U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Los Angeles, California, the United States, June 4, 2016. [Xinhua]
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U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Los Angeles, California, the United States, June 4, 2016. [Xinhua] |
U.S. Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who has not yet formally ended his campaign for this race, said Friday that he will vote for the party's presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in November, saying stopping Donald Trump from becoming president must be an overarching goal.
Asked on the MSNBC's Morning Joe program whether he will vote for Clinton in November, the Vermont Senator answered "Yes." So far it was the strongest expression of support for Clinton from the candidate whose campaign has successfully attracted tens of thousands of young Democrats and independent voters.
"The issue right here is I'm going to do everything I can do to defeat Donald Trump. I think Trump, in so many ways, would be a disaster for this country if he were elected," he said.
Meanwhile, he indicated he will remain in the race to influence Democratic platform at the party's national convention in July. Arguing whether his continuing fight will deepen the party's disunity now that Clinton has secured the nomination, he said "You talk about disunity. I talk about involving the American people in the political process."
Later on CNN's New Day program, Sanders also declined to clarify whether he will fully endorses Clinton, saying he is waiting to see what she says about h priorities.
He reiterated that he will put his focus on inclusion of policies that protect vulnerable workers and keep big money out of politics into the Democratic platform at the party's July 25-28 convention in Philadelphia.
"I don't have the votes to become the Democratic nominee, you know that, I know that, we're good at arithmetic," he said on CNN.
"My job right now as a candidate is to fight to make sure that the Democratic Party not only has the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party, but that platform is actually implemented by elected officials," he said.
If the Democratic Party can embrace free public college tuition, a 15-dollar minimum wage and an aggressive battle with climate change in its platform, "you know what? I think I've run a winning campaign," said Sanders.
Sanders admitted that "it doesn't appear" he'll win the Democratic nomination earlier this week. Local analysts expect his latest remarks could help Clinton's efforts to woo Sanders supporters and unite the party ahead of the convention.