US President Barack Obama on Tuesday congratulated former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton for clinching the US Democratic presidential nomination and plans to meet with her party rival, US Senator Bernie Sanders, later this week, the White House said.
Obama called Clinton and Sanders and “congratulated both candidates for running inspiring campaigns that have energized Democrats, brought a new generation of Americans into the political process and shined a spotlight on important policy ideas,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.
He also said the president would today meet with Sanders at the White House, “at Sanders’ request.”
Photo: Bloomberg
Sanders on Tuesday refused to concede defeat, vowing to stay in the Democratic nomination battle, despite his rival declaring herself the party’s flag-bearer for the US presidential race.
“We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, DC,” he told supporters in California, referring to the final nomination contest on Tuesday next week, adding: “And then we take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia,” where the Democratic convention is to be held to formally nominate the party’s candidate to challenge Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
Sanders has argued that a strong finish on Tuesday in the six states, particularly in the trophy state of California, would bolster his argument for remaining in the race. However, Clinton had already won New Jersey, South Dakota and New Mexico on Tuesday, according to US networks, and was leading Sanders by a substantial margin in California. Sanders won North Dakota.
Obama thanked Sanders for “energizing millions of Americans” with his campaign highlighting the fight to end economic inequality and the influence of special interests on US politics, Earnest said.
The president, who has expressed a keenness to enter the political fray and help the Democrat who goes up against Trump in the general election, was eager to work with Sanders “to engage millions of Democratic voters, and to build on that enthusiasm in the weeks and months ahead,” Earnest said.
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