Bernie Sanders Admits Hillary Clinton Is ‘Obviously’ Experienced

The Democratic presidential candidate was a guest on ABC's "The View."

ByABC News
April 8, 2016, 2:27 PM

— -- Bernie Sanders acknowledged today that his opponent Hillary Clinton “obviously” has the experience to be president and complimented her time in the White House as first lady.

But he also implied that her decision-making and voting record are what make her unqualified to be commander-in-chief.

“Does she have the experience? Yes, obviously she does. She was secretary of state, a U.S. senator and I thought an outstanding first lady by many respects, like breaking the mold,” Sanders said today on ABC’s “The View.”

Sanders continued, “But what I meant by that, what I thought I made clear, is you call into question the judgment of somebody, I believe, of who voted for the war in Iraq, which turns out to be one of the more disastrous foreign policy blunders in our history.”

“Here's the point -- she regrets a lot of things,” Sanders argued. “In saying that, I don't mean to be sarcastic, we all make mistakes. But I regret less than she does because I had the courage to vote the right way even when it was not necessarily popular.”

Sanders and Clinton have been sparring all week over credentials, with Clinton first saying on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday: “I think he hadn't done his homework and he'd been talking for more than a year about doing things that he obviously hadn't really studied or understood. That does raise a lot of questions.”

At a rally in Pennsylvania on Wednesday night, the Vermont senator quipped that Clinton “appears to be getting a little bit nervous.”

"She has been saying lately that she thinks that I am quote-unquote, not qualified to be president. Now, let me, let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton, I don’t believe that she is qualified,” Sanders told a crowd of supporters at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Today, Sanders defended his decision to call Clinton out, telling “The View”: “Yes, I come from the little nice state of Vermont, but if we get hit, we hit back.”

In a lighter moment on the show, Sanders revealed that Jed Bartlet of the show “The West Wing” is his favorite fictional president and that “The View” host Joy Behar is his celebrity crush.

Sanders, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, also had a chance to show how he thinks pizza should be enjoyed -- without a fork and a knife.

“No debate on this one,” Sanders insisted as he took a bite.