Bernie Sanders vows to continue campaign
Just hours after Hillary Clinton celebrated becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, a defiant Bernie Sanders pledged to continue his primary campaign.
Coming on stage in California to wild applause, Sanders thanked participants in his "political revolution" and remembered how his effort had originally been dismissed as a "fringe campaign."
"Over the last year, I think that's changed just a little bit," he said.
Sanders also noted his success with young voters, which he said was the most "extraordinary" part of his campaign.
"Young people understand they are the future of America and they intend to help shape that future," he said, adding that his younger supporters made him "enormously optimistic" about the future of America.
He also said his "movement" would "not allow right-wing Republicans to control our government. And that is especially true with Donald Trump as the Republican candidate."
"His major theme is bigotry," Sanders said of the presumptive Republican nominee, who has been heavily criticized by members of his own party in recent days due to his racially-tinged rhetoric targeting a Hispanic judge.
"We will not allow Donald Trump to become president of the United States," Sanders said.
But, unlike in past speeches and interviews, Sanders didn't say he's the best candidate to defeat Trump.
Sanders also touched on familiar themes of economic inequality, immigration reform, and the need to overhaul the criminal justice system. Their mission, Sanders told the crowd, was to "transform our country."
And then Sanders delivered his biggest applause line of the night.
"Next Tuesday, we continue the fight in the last primary in Washington, D.C.," he said to loud and enthusiastic cheers. "We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, D.C."
Sanders, however, did acknowledge that the continuing his campaign would be difficult. "I am pretty good at arithmetic," he insisted, but said that he would continue on regardless of Clinton's advantage in the delegate count.
He said he had received "a very kind call" from President Obama, whom he will meet with at the White House on Thursday, and that he had called to congratulate Clinton on her wins Tuesday night. The mention of Clinton elicited sustained booing from the crowd, which Sanders didn't try to quell. But he also didn't criticize her.
Sanders then thanked the voters of North Dakota and Montana, two states he won Tuesday night.
"Thank you all," Sanders said as David Bowie's "Starman" began to play and he wrapped up his speech. "The struggle continues.
The 15-minute speech, one of the shortest he has ever given, was met with raucous applause throughout. The crowd cheered so loudly, it was as if they were trying to re-light the fire in his belly. With his hoarse voice, Sanders prevailed.