Sanders: Clinton 'in serious trouble'
VIDEO;
(CNN)Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has an explanation for rival Hillary Clinton's increasing attacks on guns, taxes and more: Clinton is "in serious trouble."
The Vermont senator said Clinton is lashing out because polls show their race having tightened in Iowa while Sanders has maintained a narrow lead in New Hampshire.
"Secretary Clinton and her campaign is in serious trouble," Sanders told reporters Monday after a campaign stop in Pleasantville, Iowa.
"And I think a candidate who was originally thought to be the anointed candidate, the inevitable candidate, is now locked in a very difficult race here in Iowa and in New Hampshire," Sanders said. "So obviously in that scenario what people do is start attacking. Suddenly Bernie Sanders is not a nice guy. That is not surprising when you have a Clinton campaign that is now in trouble and now understands that they can lose."
Sanders' remarks come after an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist University poll showed Clinton with just a 48% to 45% lead among likely Iowa caucus-goers.
"Our major problem has been I am running against a candidate who was perceived to be the inevitable nominee, right?" Sanders told CNN's Brianna Keilar, in between campaign stops in Iowa. "And her name recognition is phenomenal, almost everybody knows who she is, that wasn't the case with me. So we started off in national polls at 3 percent. Well, we've come a very long way."
Sanders told Keilar he was proud of the work his team is doing in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
"I think we have a real chance of winning both of those states," he said. "I think we're doing a lot better in Nevada and in South Carolina than people think and if we do well in all of those states, I think we have a real path to victory for the Democratic nomination and I think then we can win the general election."
Clinton, meanwhile, has attacked Sanders on guns in recent days, blasting him for voting for a bill -- while Sanders, Clinton and President Barack Obama were all still in the Senate -- that protected gun manufacturers from liability when their firearms are used in crimes.
"I was there, I voted against it. Sen. Obama was there, he voted against it. And Sanders voted for it," Clinton said of the liability bill in a meeting with the Des Moines Register's editorial board Monday. "And it was the biggest request by the NRA and related gun lobby actor to the Congress and I think and I know the President wants to revisit that as well."
Sanders stood by his vote Sunday on ABC's "This Week" but said he would "revise" parts of the bill.
It's a debate likely to continue Monday night when the two appear on the same stage for the Iowa Brown and Black Forum in Des Moines.
CNN's Tom LoBianco and Dan Merica contributed to this report.
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