Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., encouraged his diehard fans Wednesday to look beyond Hillary Clinton’s personality and to rally to her side in the fall against GOP nominee Donald Trump.
“People have got to get beyond personality,” the senator said in response to being asked by ABC News what his message for the “Bernie or Bust” crowd is. “And they’ve got to take a hard look at the issues that impact the lives of middle-class and working-class people. That’s what [the Clinton] campaign is really about.”
Sanders mounted a surprisingly strong challenge to Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“And I think if you look at the issues, whether it is making public colleges and universities tuition free, dealing aggressively with climate change, raising the minimum wage, overturning this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, on all of those issues, and many more, Hillary Clinton’s positions are far, far, far superior to Donald Trump,” the senator said.
He concluded, “I’m personally going to do everything I can to make sure that Trump does not become president of the United States.”
Clinton and Sanders appeared at a campaign event Wednesday afternoon in Durham, N.H., to discuss college debt and tuition. Once bitter primary rivals, the two Democrats exchanged compliments and pleasantries as they spoke with the audience about the need to make higher education achievable for all.
Sanders is “one of the most passionate champions for equality and justice that I have ever seen,” Clinton said, adding she is “looking forward to working with him” when she is elected president.
Sanders, who only recently accepted a role as a Clinton campaign surrogate, encouraged his audience in New Hampshire to “think big, not small.”
It is “imperative that we elect Hillary Clinton as our next president,” he said.
Sanders hit Clinton hard during the primary for her ties to lobbyists and Wall Street, and he gave her a close primary race with a platform of higher taxes and an expanded federal government.
Many of the Vermont senator’s supporters were unhappy in July when he came out and endorsed Clinton during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
