Hillary Clinton on Thursday effectively declared the Democratic presidential primary over and guaranteed that she will be the nominee for her party.
Speaking to CNN, the former first lady said it’s time for Sen. Bernard Sanders to accept reality and begin working to unify the party.
“I will be the nominee for my party. … That is already done, in effect. There is no way I won’t be,” Mrs. Clinton said.
Tensions between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns have hearted up since Sanders supporters disrupted the Nevada state Democratic convention Saturday, and some of those supporters issued threats toward the state’s Democratic Party chairwoman.
Mr. Sanders has condemned the threats and said there is no room for violence, but many Democrats say his response hasn’t been strong enough. They also fear he risks fracturing the party beyond repair if he doesn’t give up his fight soon and back Mrs. Clinton.
The former secretary of state has a virtually insurmountable lead in the delegate race, yet Mr. Sanders continues to win primaries — including his victory in Oregon on Tuesday — and has vowed to fight through the California primary June 7 and all the way to the party convention in July.
Mrs. Clinton argues that the senator from Vermont needs to take a different path and follow her example from 2008, when she graciously bowed out after a tough race against Barack Obama.
“When I came out and withdrew and endorsed Sen. Obama, about 40 percent of my supporters, according to polls, said they would never support him,” she said. “So I worked really hard to make the case, as I’m sure Sen. Sanders will, that whatever differences we might have, they pale in comparison to the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party. … Sen. Sanders has to do his part.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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