Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders today pledged to work together to “unify” the Democrats after the final primary in their bitter 14-month campaign for the party’s presidential nomination.
The pair met to thrash out details under which Mr Sanders will bow out of the race, clearing the way for a battle between Mrs Clinton and Donald Trump to succeed Barack Obama. It follows last night’s results from the Washington DC primary — Mrs Clinton won with 78.7 per cent of the vote.
In virtually identical statements released after a meeting of more than 90 minutes, the Clinton and Sanders campaigns said the pair discussed “unifying the party and ... the dangerous threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation”.
They reportedly talked about possible concessions for Mr Sanders to secure his endorsement of the former secretary of state, such as commitments to elements of his agenda including a higher national minimum wage.
The Left-wing Vermont senator has softened his defiant tone since his rival passed the threshold for clinching the Democratic nomination.
Over the whole primary campaign he won 12 million votes and 1,877 delegates to the party convention. Mrs Clinton got nearly 16 million votes and 2,784 delegates.
He said: “Our goal must not be to allow Donald Trump or anyone else to divide us.”
