Passing the milestone of 2,383 delegates late Monday secured Clinton’s status as the presumptive Democratic nominee, and she becomes the first female standard-bearer of a major U.S. political party.
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With the newswire’s report, which was quickly confirmed by CBS News and NBC News, Clinton becomes the first woman to be in line for a major-party nomination in the history of the United States.
Some have gone further, and contend this is a clear effort to deter Sanders supporters from going to the polls on June 7, when six Democratic primary contests occur, including in the crucial states of California and New Jersey.
Sanders has previously said that Clinton should not be deemed the party’s nominee because she would be relying on superdelegates – party officials and elected leaders – who do not actually vote until the Democratic National Convention.
MORE: Hillary Clinton reaches delegate count to secure nomination, AP reportsShe won big in a pair of weekend primaries in the Caribbean.
The Sanders campaign acknowledges it is unlikely he can switch enough superdelegates from Clinton to overtake her lead among the party insiders unless he is able to win a majority of the pledged delegates. She also has the support of 571 superdelegates, according to the AP survey of all 714 superdelegates repeatedly in the past seven months, and only 95 remain publicly uncommitted.
With a series primary votes on Tuesday that could see Clinton all but seal the party nomination, the White House refused to rule out an endorsement within days.
Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, released a statement Monday night following the news of the victory. She rarely holds press conferences.
“We really need to bring a close to this primary process and get on to defeating Donald Trump”, said Nancy Worley, a superdelegate who chairs Alabama’s Democratic Party and provided one of the last endorsements to put Clinton over the top.
Bernie responded to AP’s call with a statement calling the media out for rushing the judgement when the superdelegates haven’t – and allegedly can not – officially back Hillary until the party convention on July 25.
At the same time, it’s also true Sanders has a chance to win the Democratic primary in California, where a large number of delegates are at stake.
However, Sanders, who does not seem to be giving up so easily said he meant to stay in the race until the party’s convention in July.
While Clinton has been in the driver’s seat for the nomination for weeks, a victory by the front-runner in California would give Sanders much less leverage as he seeks to sway superdelegates.
“I believed it was the right thing to do”. “This is an important milestone, but there are six states that are voting Tuesday, with millions of people headed to the polls, and Hillary Clinton is working to earn every vote”, he said.
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“We’re going to keep fighting until the last vote is counted”, said Kristen Elliott, a supporter from San Francisco who attended the rally.
