Hillary Clinton offered Bernie Sanders a backhanded compliment for coming around on a gun control issue, while Sanders expressed his disappointment that Clinton’s daughter had been used to attack his health care plan. And Donald Trump weighed in on everything from Marco Rubio’s citizenship to his own relationship with a higher power.
They shared it all with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” only hours ahead of the fourth Democratic debate, set for Sunday night in South Carolina, and just a little more than two weeks before Iowans head to the caucuses for the first vote of this 2016 nominating contest.
Here is the best of the best from this Sunday’s show:
Clinton on Sanders’ gun reversal
(On Saturday, Sanders announced he would support legislation to roll back 2005 law granting firearm manufacturers legal immunity, a bill he supported a decade ago. Clinton has repeatedly criticized his support of it.)
“One of my biggest differences has been on guns, and I’m very pleased that he flip-flopped on the immunity legislation. Now I hope he will flip-flop on what we call the ‘Charleston loophole’ and join legislation to close that,” Clinton said.
Clinton on daughter Chelsea’s attack
“I didn’t use her; she answered a question and she gave a factual answer,” Clinton said.
Clinton on the Benghazi movie, “13 Hours”
“I’m just too busy campaigning,” she said.
Clinton on FBI probe
“No,” she said simply, when asked if she had been interviewed by the FBI.
Sanders on Chelsea Clinton
“I was a little disappointed that what Chelsea said was just not accurate,” he said of Chelsea Clintons’s attacks on his health care plan.
Sanders on how he will pay for his health plan
“Well, if you consider a Medicare premium as a tax, you know, that’s true … But, at the end of the day, the middle-class family, getting rid of all private health insurance premiums will save thousands of dollars a year in their health care costs,” he said.
Sanders on guns
“What I said, Jake, is that there were provisions in that legislation ending armor-piercing ammunition, making sure that we had safety locks for kids in that bill. That made sense to me,” Sanders said.
Trump on God
“I have a very good relationship with god, a great relationship with evangelical (Christian voters),” he said.
Trump on reporter he mocked
“I would have not done it because it’s confusing. Some people believe me when I said — I mean, I swear to you, that’s true. I had no idea … I swear to you,” Trump said.
Trump on public funding
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t thought of it. I’m thinking about this one,” he said.
Trump on campaign finance
“You need it because I think PACs are a horrible thing,” he said.
Trump on Ted Cruz
“Ted Cruz, he’s got a lot of people putting big money in, probably maybe Goldman Sachs, we’ll have to ask them. I mean, they have loaned him a million dollars. So, they certainly have control over him,” Trump said.
Trump on Ted Cruz’s eligibility
(Trump has said Cruz will face legal scrutiny over whether he is a “natural born citizen” as prescribed by the Constitution to serve as president, because he was born in Canada. Cruz is an American citizen because his mother is American.)
“You can’t have a cloud. You can’t pick a candidate that may have a 5%, 10%, 20% chance. By the way, since that happened, there have been lawsuits filed,” Trump said. “Now, he’s got a problem. He was born in Canada. He was a Canadian citizen until 15 months ago, I mean, if you can believe that.”
Trump on Marco Rubio’s eligibility
“It’s a very, very different thing because he was born here. He was born on the land. Ted was not born on the land.”
