Bernie Sanders surprises Palm Springs with visit, keeps needling Hillary Clinton

Sen. Bernard Sanders made an unannounced visit Thursday night to Palm Springs, mingling with surprised supporters at a street fair as he continued to campaign hard for the California primary.

Mr. Sanders showed no sign that he would relent his insurgent bid, despite likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton declaring that the primary race was over.

He is positioned to do well in California’s June 7 primary, although a win there likely will not deliver him the nomination but wound Mrs. Clinton heading into the Democratic National Convention in July.

Mr. Sanders’ supporters, who have grown increasingly hostile with the Democratic Party for allegedly rigging the system in favor of Mrs. Clinton, also showed no sign of cooling their enthusiasm for the self-described democratic socialist from Vermont.

Kamber Fishbein, a 19-year-old Sanders supporter, was with her friends and her mother when they heard that Mr. Sanders was at VillageFest, the Thursday night street fair in downtown Palm Beach, the Desert Sun reported.

“We ran and we caught up to him,” Ms. Fishbein told the newspaper. “We got a security guard to take the photo — he seemed mad — but he still took it.”

Mr. Sanders later dined at Las Casuelas Terraza on Palm Canyon.

“As soon as he came in people were like, ’Bernie! Bernie! Take a picture!’ He walked through the whole restaurant and waved to everybody. … He was real polite to people, taking pictures. It was awesome,” Restaurant manager Eric Navarro told the newspaper.

In a press release from Palm Springs, the Sanders campaign rejected Mrs. Clinton’s claim that the race was over.

“In the past three weeks voters in Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon respectfully disagreed with Secretary Clinton,” the statement said. “We expect voters in the remaining eight contests also will disagree. And with almost every national and state poll showing Sen. Sanders doing much, much better than Secretary Clinton against Donald Trump, it is clear that millions of Americans have growing doubts about the Clinton campaign.”