Welp

After a week of news focused on Hillary Clinton not saying that Bernie Sanders was unqualified to be president (after Joe Scarborough, by his own admission, tried to goad her into saying it and failed), Sanders saying that Clinton is unqualified and lying about her having said the same about him, then saying [video may autoplay] "of course" she's qualified, but only before saying [video may autoplay] "in a sense" she's both qualified and unqualified, now Sanders has pivoted to saying she merely lacks good judgment.

During talk show appearances [over the weekend], the senator from Vermont continued to zero in on Clinton's acceptance of special-interest money, her support for the Iraq War, and her past backing of international trade agreements.

"In many respects, she may have the experience to be president of the United States," Sanders said during an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press. "No one can argue that. But in terms of her judgement, something is clearly lacking."

He made a similar argument during a segment of CNN's State of the Union that was broadcast Sunday, saying: "I have my doubts about what kind of president she would make."

...During a later appearance on CBS's Face the Nation, host John Dickerson also pressed Sanders on his views about Clinton's judgment.

"Maybe her judgment is not quite as high as it should be," Sanders said. "But, John, I want to get away from this stuff. I respect Hillary Clinton. I've known her for 25 years. What I want a debate on is the real issues impacting the middle class of this country."

Okay.

I just want to note here that Sanders could make the case that he's got better judgment than his opponent (which he quite clearly wants to do, despite protestations to the contrary) without saying negative shit like "something is clearly lacking" and "her judgment is not quite as high as it should be."

He could, for instance, just straightforwardly say, "I think I've get better judgment than she does." Or he could do the more politic thing of saying, "We've got different judgment on a number of issues, which is reflected in our records, and I'll let the voters make up their minds about whose judgment they prefer."

But of all possible options, he went for the option where he basically just trashes her.

Meanwhile:

During a separate segment on [CNN's State of the Union], Clinton declined to criticize Sanders when asked by host Jake Tapper whether she has doubts about him.

"No, I don't," the former secretary of state said. "I don't have anything negative to say about him."

Welp.