After an hour-long meeting with President Obama, Bernie Sanders announced that he would not be dropping out of the race.
However, he did indicate that he was going to ally himself with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump in the general election:
“Donald Trump would—clearly to my mind, and I think the majority of Americans—be a disaster as president of the United States,” Sanders said outside the White House.
“It is unbelievable to me, and I say this in all sincerity, that the Republican Party would have a candidate for president who in the year 2016 makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign. In my view, the American people will not vote for or tolerate a candidate who insults Mexicans and Latinos, who insults Muslims, who insults African-Americans and women,” Sanders continued.
“I will of course, be competing in the D.C. primary, which will be held next Tuesday,” he said. Sanders has a rally scheduled to happen in D.C. Thursday night, June 9.
The announcement came minutes before Obama released a video endorsing Clinton for president. The video gave high praise for Clinton, but also called for party unity between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns going forward.
“Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders may have been rivals during this primary, but they’re both patriots who love this country, and they share a vision of the America we all believe in. An America that’s hopeful, an America that’s big-hearted. An America that’s strong and fair and gives every child the same chance that we had. Those are the values that united us as Democrats.”
In addition to meeting with President Obama, Sanders also met with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who recently called for Bernie Sanders to “give up.” Reid struck a different chord about Sanders after meeting him:
“I’m in a good place with Bernie,” Reid said. “Bernie’s going to be very good for the party.”
Sanders finished his speech at the White House inching towards the unity hinted at by Obama in his endorsement:
“I look forward to meeting with [Clinton] in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump and to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 percent,” Sanders concluded.
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