Sanders: Clinton's NRA remark 'mean-spirited,' 'unfair,' 'inaccurate'

Bernie Sanders on Wednesday blasted Hillary Clinton's assertions that he is "pretty reliable vote for the gun lobby," assailing his Democratic rival's remark earlier in the morning.

“To say that I am kind of a supporter of the NRA is really a mean-spirited and unfair and inaccurate statement,” Sanders said on MSNBC. “I have a D-minus , D-minus voting record from the NRA.”


Clinton made the remark during an interview with NBC's "Today" earlier in the morning.

Sanders scoffed at comments Clinton’s daughter Chelsea had made while campaigning for her mom Tuesday where she said Sanders wanted to “dismantle” Obamacare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare and private insurance and give Republican governors more control over Americans' health care.

“That is factually incorrect and I hope the Clinton campaign stops saying that,” Sanders said.

Sanders also brought up a point his campaign has been pushing publicly asking Clinton what she thinks of expanding Social Security benefits.

“In 2008 when she was running against Sen. Barack Obama he proposed extending the life of Social Security by lifting the cap on taxable income. We’ve taken that idea and we say that we should expand benefits,” Sanders said. “I am waiting to see whether Secretary Clinton has changed her views from 2008 and whether or not she will support an expansion of Social Security benefits.”

Sanders' latest pushback on Clinton comes amid an escalating war of words between the two Democratic rivals.

Responding in the next hour on the same network, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon said that the new back and forth between the candidates is just a spirited contest as part of an inevitable tightening in Iowa and New Hampshire.

As that process begins, he told host Thomas Roberts, "you’re starting to see more scrutiny of the respective candidates' records and their positions on the issues and that’s why in the in the last couple of weeks there’s started to be more tension around Senator Sanders' record on gun safety issues,” Fallon said, referring to Sanders' 2005 vote to shield gun manufacturers from liability, detailing their differences on tax policies.

When Roberts asked Fallon to address the candidates’ differences on health care and Sanders’ call Wednesday for Clinton to say if she supported universal healthcare, Fallon fired back: “I think if there's one thing voters know about Hillary Clinton, it's that he’s made universal health care the cause of her career.”

“In this debate right now between Senator Sanders and Hillary Clinton you have two folks that also support universal health care,” Fallon said, remarking that like Barack Obama did in their 2008 primary, “Senator Sanders needs to put out the details so we can judge who has the best approach.”

Earlier, the Vermont senator also addressed the candidate he "would love to run" agains on the Republican side: Donald Trump.

“I would love to run, frankly, against Donald Trump,” Sanders said, pointing to recent poll numbers that put him ahead of Trump in some general election matchups. “His views on so many issues and his attitude towards minorities in this country is so different than mine.”