BOULDER, Colo. — Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley knocked his Democratic presidential rivals Wednesday, saying their infighting over gun control had taken focus away from the issue.
“In our own party, I am doing my very best to build a new consensus,” O’Malley said during a press conference about gun control at the University of Colorado Boulder.
{mosads}”Once Secretary Clinton and Sen. Sanders get done bickering about ‘shouting’ and who’s sexist and who’s not, I hope they come back to the main issue here, which is that we need common-sense gun legislation,” O’Malley added.
He was referencing presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton’s remarks at a Democratic women’s leadership event last Friday where she said she was told to stop “shouting about gun violence.”
“Well, first of all, I’m not shouting. It’s just when women talk some people think we’re shouting,” Clinton said, taking what many viewed as a shot at rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“What I was talking about very clearly is that all across this country, we’ve got people shouting at each other, we’ve got to calm it down,” Sanders responded Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
O’Malley’s speech Wednesday was just up the road from where 10 Republican presidential candidates will take to the stage for their third debate.
O’Malley called on the Republican candidates to speak on the issue of gun control in the debate, which will be aired by CNBC and focus on economic issues.