Martin O'Malley comes out swinging against Sanders and Clinton's progressive bonafides

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley attempted to cast himself on Friday as the only real Democrat running for the party's presidential nomination during a forum hosted by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, as O'Malley sniped at both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Maddow noted that President Barack Obama had announced earlier in the day that he was rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline, which all three candidates have opposed.

"Secretary Clinton got there just last week, and I was against it a year ago," he responded.

"You're on the same page now," Maddow said, before asking, "Why is that important?"

"It's important because leadership isn't about following polls," he said. "I think leadership's about being clear about your principles."

Later in the interview, O'Malley criticized Sanders, an independent, for calling on a Democratic candidate to run a primary campaign against Obama prior to his re-election campaign, whereas O'Malley supported Obama.

"I'm a Democrat, I'm a lifelong Democrat," he said. "I'm not a former independent. I'm not a former Republican. I believe in the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the party of John F Kennedy. I believe that we're all in this together."

The former governor's statement about Clinton and the pipeline, as aired on Friday, can be seen below.

O'Malley's remarks regarding Sanders can be seen here.