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Obama and Bernie Sanders Are Meeting for Delicate Talks Bernie Sanders Meets President Obama and Pledges to Work to Defeat Donald Trump
(about 1 hour later)
More than a year after he began his presidential bid in the shadow of the Capitol, Senator Bernie Sanders landed in Washington on Thursday for a whirlwind round of meetings with President Obama and Senator Harry Reid that could herald the unwinding of his campaign. WASHINGTON — Senator Bernie Sanders met with President Obama on Thursday and said afterward that he would do everything within his power to stop Donald J. Trump from becoming president — and would work closely with Hillary Clinton to make that happen.
The return to Washington comes as the Democratic Party is trying to unify behind Hillary Clinton, its presumptive presidential nominee, even as Mr. Sanders has vowed to continue campaigning through the final primary contest in Washington, D.C., next week and to take his fight to the convention July 25-28 in Philadelphia. After the meeting with Mr. Obama, which lasted more than an hour, Mr. Sanders gave no indication that he was ready to leave the race just yet, insisting that he would compete in next week’s primary contest here in Washington. However, he made clear that party unity was on his mind.
The senator spent Monday huddling with his team at his headquarters in Vermont before embarking on a morning flight to Dulles International Airport with his wife, Jane, and a small coterie of staff members. “I will work as hard as I can, to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States,” Mr. Sanders told reporters, saying the billionaire businessman “makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign” and would be a “disaster” as commander in chief.
Mr. Sanders, who requested the meeting with the president, pulled into the White House grounds at 10:56 a.m. after stopping at a nearby Peet’s Coffee for a scone. Mr. Obama and Mr. Sanders strolled down the colonnade next to the Rose Garden on their way into the Oval Office, chatting inaudibly and grinning broadly. Nearby, a thick line of cameras and cluster of microphones were assembled in the driveway outside the West Wing, where journalists prepared to pepper the Vermont senator with questions about the future of his campaign. He said he would continue fighting for the issues that animated his campaign, including enhancing Social Security benefits, college affordability and restoring the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
Mr. Obama is trying to negotiate, however gently, with him to exit the Democratic race without inflicting damage on efforts to unite the party. “These are the issues that we will take to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July,” Mr. Sanders said, declining to answer reporters’ shouted questions about whether he would leave the race.
The visit came a day after the senator huddled with his team at his headquarters in Vermont to discuss the fate of his candidacy.
Mr. Sanders, who requested the meeting with the president, pulled into the White House grounds at 10:56 a.m. after stopping at a nearby Peet’s Coffee for a scone. Mr. Obama and Mr. Sanders strolled down the colonnade next to the Rose Garden on their way into the Oval Office, chatting inaudibly and grinning broadly. Nearby, a thick line of cameras and cluster of microphones were assembled in the driveway outside the West Wing, where journalists peppered the Vermont senator with questions.
Mr. Obama was trying to negotiate, however gently, with him to exit the Democratic race without inflicting damage on efforts to unite the party.
“My hope is, is that over the next couple of weeks, we’re able to pull things together,” Mr. Obama said during a taping of an appearance on the “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Wednesday in New York. “There’s a natural process of everybody recognizing that this is not about any individual.”“My hope is, is that over the next couple of weeks, we’re able to pull things together,” Mr. Obama said during a taping of an appearance on the “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Wednesday in New York. “There’s a natural process of everybody recognizing that this is not about any individual.”
After his meeting with Mr. Obama, Mr. Sanders will head across town to see Mr. Reid. While the two men are old friends, the conversation could be somewhat awkward as the minority leader has endorsed Mrs. Clinton and said publicly that Mr. Sanders should prepare to leave the race. After his meeting with Mr. Obama, Mr. Sanders will head across town to see Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader. While the two men are old friends, the conversation could be somewhat awkward as the minority leader has endorsed Mrs. Clinton and said publicly that Mr. Sanders should prepare to leave the race.
“Sometimes you just have to give up,” Mr. Reid said last week.“Sometimes you just have to give up,” Mr. Reid said last week.
Mr. Sanders was also scheduled to meet with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York while in Washington.
After Mrs. Clinton won Tuesday’s California primary Mr. Sanders refused to quit the race, despite Mrs. Clinton’s wide margin of victory and the fact that she had won enough pledged delegates for the nomination. But some of his supporters have started to walk away, prompting growing calls that it is time to bring the party together to defeat the presumptive Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump.After Mrs. Clinton won Tuesday’s California primary Mr. Sanders refused to quit the race, despite Mrs. Clinton’s wide margin of victory and the fact that she had won enough pledged delegates for the nomination. But some of his supporters have started to walk away, prompting growing calls that it is time to bring the party together to defeat the presumptive Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump.
Although the Sanders campaign has already started laying off about half of its staff members, Mr. Sanders is maintaining “that the struggle continues.” On Wednesday, Mr. Sanders sent out a fund-raising email asking for contributions of $2.70 and at 7 p.m. he will hold a rally outside of R.F.K. Stadium in Washington, where he will discuss his plans for getting big money out of politics and making public universities tuition-free.
On Wednesday Mr. Sanders sent out a fund-raising email asking for contributions of $2.70 and at 7 p.m. he will hold a rally outside of R.F.K. Stadium in Washington, where he will discuss his plans for getting big money out of politics and making public universities tuition-free.