Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Sunday that he's sick and tired of everyone trying to get him to attack former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"I cannot walk down the street -- Secretary Clinton knows this -- without being told how much I have to attack Secretary Clinton," Sanders said during NBC's Democratic debate. "Want to get me on the front page of the paper? I make some vicious attack. I have avoided doing that. I am trying to run an issue-oriented campaign."
Clinton nodded and smiled throughout his comments.
Sanders' frustration bubbled to the surface when moderator and MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell asked Sanders to address his recent comment calling former President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky "totally, totally, totally disgraceful and unacceptable."
Sanders told Mitchell that that kind of question "annoys" him.
He noted that he talked about Bill Clinton only because someone asked him about it Friday during an Iowa town hall.
Mitchell told him he didn't need to answer the question in the way he did, by condemning the former president's behavior. But Sanders said if he hadn't, "there's another front-page [headline]."
"Yes, his behavior was deplorable," Sanders added. "Have I said a word? No, I have not. I'm going to debate Secretary Clinton, Gov. O'Malley on the issues facing the American people, not Bill Clinton's personal behavior."
Sanders did, however, go after Clinton during the debate, saying a difference between them was that he doesn't "take money from big banks or get "personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs."
The two also disagreed sharply on the issue of gun violence and health care, criticizing each other's records and policy proposals.
In past debates, moderators have tried to spark disagreements between Sanders and Clinton on issues of the data breach and the former secretary of state's use of a personal email account, but it hasn't worked.
Read more updates on the debate here.
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