Following a big primary win in New York this week, Hillary Clinton laid out her rival Bernie Sanders’s exit strategy for him during a Thursday interview.
The former secretary of state recalled her own experience dropping out of the 2008 presidential race, remembering that a lot of her supporters said they would never support the eventual Democratic nominee, either.
“I believe that once the nominating process has concluded, there is a great reason to come together. I know something about this, because as people remember, President Obama and I ran a really tough race for the entire primary season, and he ended up with more delegates. And I withdrew, I endorsed him, and I then got to work,” Clinton said on Good Morning America. “And remember, when I withdrew in June of 2008, polls were showing that at least 40 percent of my supporters said, oh, they weren’t going to support Senator Obama. So I had to get to work, and I had to make the case.”
Clinton mentioned how, perhaps providing the Vermont senator with a blueprint.
“I nominated [Obama] at the convention. I went from group to group, even as late as the convention, convincing people who were my delegates to come together, to unify, because what then-Sen. Obama and I had in common was much greater than our differences. And so we were successful, thank goodness, and he was elected.
“So I’m hoping the same thing will happen this time,” Clinton concluded.
As to whether she would ask Sanders to exit the race, she said that was his choice.
“That’s up to him. I would never tell anybody what to do — that has to be a very personal decision.”
