Senator Bernie Sanders is expected to formally endorse presumptive US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, potentially ending tensions between the two and easing the concerns of party leaders hoping for a united front ahead of the nominating convention later this month, Huffington Post reports.
The endorsement is expected to occur on Tuesday, July 12, 2016 when Sanders and Clinton will appear together at a rally in New Hampshire, Democratic sources first told NBC News on Wednesday, July 6, 2016.
Sanders all but confirmed that he would endorse Clinton in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday.
“We have got to do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton,” he said, adding that “I don’t honestly know how we would survive four years of a Donald Trump [as president].”
After repeatedly pledging to continue his campaign until the convention, the Vermont senator has appeared increasingly open to backing Clinton in recent weeks.
He affirmed in June that he would vote for Clinton, and promised to “do everything I can to defeat” presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. But his campaign insisted Sanders didn’t mean the comments as a formal endorsement of Clinton.
Chief among Sanders’ concerns was whether Clinton and the Democratic Party would embrace the progressive policy agenda that was central to his presidential campaign. While he succeeded in getting some of his policy proposals into the party’s platform, which will be adopted at the convention, Sanders said that he would continue his fight.
“I hope very much that Secretary Clinton understands that not only is it good public policy, it’s the right thing to do,” he said in June. “It is good politics to begin to move in that direction.”
Vice President Joe Biden foreshadowed Sanders’ eventual endorsement, telling NPR on June 30 that Sanders had told him he’d back Clinton.
VP Biden in sit down interview with us just now: "I've talked to Bernie. Bernie is going to endorse her." @NPRWeekend
— Rachel Martin (@rachelnpr) June 30, 2016
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