According to three Dems who spoke to the NYT on a condition of anonymity, the Sanders endorsement comes after much negotiation between the campaign managers for the two Democratic presidential candidates.
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Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs would not confirm reports of a scheduled endorsement, telling USA TODAY: “We are continuing to have conversations with Secretary Clinton’s campaign and look forward to reaching a result that everybody’s happy with. Sen”.
The announcement Saturday was a clear gesture toward Sanders, who ran a strong primary campaign against Clinton and has held back from endorsing her candidacy as the party’s convention nears.
Sanders and Clinton have come out against the trade deal, but President Barack Obama supports it. Clinton supporters, including labor leaders, believed that toughening the trade language made enough of a statement without directly opposing the president, whom they did not mention during their public comments.
Sanders, a USA senator from Vermont, has resisted endorsing Clinton in a show of party unity since she clinched the Democratic nomination last month.
But he has withheld his endorsement while pushing for policy concessions from the Clinton campaign and in the Democratic Party platform. “By contrast, almost three times as many Democrats age 65 or older want the Vermont Senator to step aside now and throw his support to Clinton”, the Field Poll states. The Vermont senator has pushed for policy commitments and promises for a more inclusive party.
Sanders’s supporters plan to bring the trade deal up again when the full platform committee meets in Orlando this weekend and, if necessary, at the Democratic National Convention later this month in Philadelphia. In fact, Clinton is now winning two-thirds of Sanders primary voters (66 percent), while 27 percent remain undecided and 7 percent say they are planning on voting for Trump.
[On Wednesday] Hillary Clinton announced that she was moving dramatically in the direction of one of the most important pillars of Bernie’s agenda.
Furthermore, 60 percent of Sanders primary supporters say that there is at least a 75 percent chance that they end up supporting Clinton in November while just 23 percent say there is less than a 50-50 chance they will end up supporting the former Secretary of State.
Clinton’s campaign says that “due to the tragic events in Dallas” the Scranton, Pennsylvania, event and a fundraiser with Biden will not go ahead Friday.
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“We have got to do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton”, the Vermont senator said in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg’s Albert R. Hunt for PBS’s “Charlie Rose” program. Less than two months ago, when Sanders was still in contention for the Democratic nomination, Trump had the lead over Clinton. “I’d have to see more progressive planks in the platform”, martial arts teacher Robinson said.
