Bernie Sanders stopped short of formally conceding the Democratic primary in a web address to supporters on Thursday night, but did say he would start helping presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton take on Donald Trump in the coming weeks.
”The major political task that we face in the next five months is to make certain that Donald Trump is defeated and defeated badly. And I personally intend to begin my role in that process in a very short period of time,” Sanders said from Burlington, Vt.
The Vermont senator added that “defeating Donald Trump cannot be our only goal,” and that his supporters should continue their grassroots efforts. Sanders also encouraged his supporters to take their energy to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia this July, which he said he would attend along with his more than 1,900 delegates.
Sanders met with Clinton following her victory in the Washington, D.C. primary. The two purportedly discussed ways in which they can work together going forward and how Clinton can adopt some of Sanders’ ideas in order to appeal to his millions of supporters.
Sanders has played hard to get so far. Just last week on the campaign trail, Sanders said he wouldn’t endorse Clinton unless she won him over. But while he did avoided an endorsement Thursday night, he seemed to be getting closer.
“I recently had the opportunity to meet with Secretary Clinton and discuss some of the very important issues facing our country and the Democratic Party,” Sanders said, noting the two often disagree, but agree more often than not on core issues. “I look forward, in the coming weeks, to continued discussions between the two campaigns to make certain that your voices are heard and that the Democratic Party passes the most progressive platform in its history and that Democrats actually fight for that agenda. I also look forward to working with Secretary Clinton to transform the Democratic Party.”
Still, Sanders spent much of his speech rallying against the Democratic Party Leadership. He claimed that a major shift in the Democratic Party is necessary in order to include all people and win more states, as the party does not currently have a “50 state strategy.”
Looking forward, the Democratic socialist encouraged his supporters to remain actively involved in politics, as they were during his campaign, and to even consider running for local office.
“I have no doubt that with the energy and enthusiasm our campaign has shown that we can win significant numbers of local and state elections if people are prepared to become involved,” Sanders said to his supporters. “We need new blood in the political process and you are that new blood.”
