By Bronte Price, PoliticKING
Hillary Clinton has claimed the Democratic presidential nomination after decisive victories in the California, New Jersey and New Mexico primaries, on Tuesday night. She called on Bernie Sanders supporters to unite with her against Donald Trump.
Although Clinton won California, Sanders still gave no indication that he would bow out, insisting in his speech on Tuesday night that he would continue his campaign.
Sanders did not mention the achievement of Hillary Clinton as being the first female presumptive nominee for a major political party.
Thank you. pic.twitter.com/JeMUyYFlzJ
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 8, 2016
"Thanks to you, we've reached a milestone," she said during a speech in Brooklyn. "Tonight's victory is not about one person. It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible."
Sanders, who was hoping for a victory in the California primary, plans to stay in the race and lobby Democratic officials to support him in a contested convention next month. “You all know that it is more than Bernie — it is all of us together,” he said to a crowd in in Santa Monica, late Tuesday night.
We must always remember that change almost never happens from the top down, it happens from the bottom up.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 8, 2016
Sanders said he would “fight hard to win” the final primary, in DC next week, and he would continue “our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice” at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. Sanders also hinted at the reality of his situation. “I am pretty good in arithmetic, and I know that the fight in front of us is a very, very steep fight,” he said. “But we will continue to fight for every vote and every delegate we can get.”
Clinton recognized the benefits of having Sanders in the race thus far, saying that their “vigorous debate” had been “very good for the Democratic Party and America.”
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