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Hillary Clinton says she'll support nominee after punting on Sanders endorsement

Clinton initially said "I'm not going to go there yet" when asked if she'd endorse Bernie Sanders. She also criticized Sanders and his supporters.

In an abrupt about-face, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton appeared to say she will endorse her 2016 rival Bernie Sanders if he wins the Democratic nomination to face President Donald Trump in November. 

Clinton had earlier refused to say whether she would endorse Sanders in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Tuesday, instead telling the outlet: “I'm not going to go there yet.”

But in a tweet Tuesday night, Clinton said she would support the Democratic nominee.

“The number one priority for our country and world is retiring Trump, and, as I always have, I will do whatever I can to support our nominee," she tweeted.

Clinton had a few harsh words for Sanders in a new documentary titled "Hillary." She slammed Sanders' record on Capitol Hill and says "nobody likes" her former presidential rival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The four-part Hulu series is set to premiere at Sundance from filmmaker Nanette Burstein. 

"He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him," she says in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it."  

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When asked by "The Hollywood Reporter" about those comments and whether she still stood by her assessment of Sanders, Clinton simply said "Yes." 

She criticized not just the senator, but the entire "culture around him." 

"It's his leadership team. It's his prominent supporters. It's his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women," she said. "And I really hope people are paying attention to that because it should be worrisome that he has permitted this culture — not only permitted, [he] seems to really be very much supporting it."

Clinton and Sanders had a bitter rivalry for the 2016 nomination.

Credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Hillary Clinton participates in the Hulu "Hillary" panel during the Winter 2020 Television Critics Association Press Tour, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Clinton also weighed in on the controversy alleging Sanders told fellow candidate Elizabeth Warren that he didn't think a woman could win the presidency. 

"I think that sentiment is untrue, which we should all say loudly," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "Then this argument about whether or not or when he did or didn't say that a woman couldn't be elected, it's part of a pattern. If it were a one-off, you might say, "OK, fine." But he said I was unqualified. I had a lot more experience than he did, and got a lot more done than he had, but that was his attack on me. I just think people need to pay attention"

Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard are the only three women left in the presidential race. Clinton says she's "talked to" Warren and Klobuchar and answered their questions as well as given them advice on running for president as a woman. 

 "You're probably not going to be treated fairly, don't let it knock you off stride." she said.  

"Hillary" will be available on Hulu in March and will premiere at the Sundance film festival, which starts on Jan 23.

TEGNA's Travis Pittman and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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