It has been weeks since it became clear that Clinton would win the Democratic presidential nomination, but Sanders, while saying that they shared the goal of defeating Trump in November’s national election, had declined until Tuesday to fully embrace her candidacy as he sought to influence the party’s platform of policies.
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Now that Bernie Sanders has endorsed Hillary Clinton, where does this leave his supporters come November?
Top Democrats, including President Barack Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren of MA, a favorite of the party’s liberal wing, have already announced their support for Clinton, leaving Sanders at risk of being left behind in the Democratic battle against Trump.
“These aren’t just my fights”.
In an email to supporters after the rally, Sanders said he would still push for changes to the party’s nominating process to make it more inclusive.
Edwards said that he was pleased to hear Sanders point out all the things he and Clinton agree on. “And the first time I came here, I was asked to do very important stuff”.
Chants of “Bernie” broke out in the gymnasium while opening speakers addressed the crowd, prompting Clinton’s faithful to chant, “unity”. The campaign sent similar messages highlighting disagreements between the two Democratic candidates on trade and Clinton’s long history of accepting donations from Wall Street as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.
Clinton was the target of a Snapchat filter when conservative group Judicial Watch sponsored one on the day of her Benghazi testimony last October.
“It really made it so now Jill Stein gets my throwaway vote, because there’s no way I can vote for either of the other two”, Dahn said, referring to Clinton and Trump. Ahead of the NY primary, he alleged that Clinton wasn’t qualified to be president – a statement he later walked back – after Clinton declined to say whether she thought Sanders was qualified.
“There’s more potential for her to gain in the coming days as people who were previously with Bernie start to either coalesce around her or will also look to see third-party options”, Mitchell said.
Speakers at the rally included New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, and U.S. Sen.
In his remarks, Sanders warned that Trump was a divisive figure who would create further splintering.
Yes. We become stronger when black and white, Latino, Asian American, Native American – all of us – stand together. Yes.
Trump, who has courted Sanders’ backers as the primaries have winded down, wasted little time going after Sanders, accusing him of capitulating to Clinton.
“I call on the tens of millions inspired by Bernie Sanders’ call for political revolution, the 60% of Americans who want a new major party, and the independents who outnumber both Democrats and Republicans to reject the self-defeating strategy of voting for the lesser evil and join our fight for the greater good”, she concluded.
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Trump played off the disappointment felt by Sanders’ supporters, tweeting that he was “somewhat surprised that Bernie Sanders was not true to himself and his supporters”.
