Sanders still won't concede defeat

Democratic presidential candidates Senator Bernie Sanders (left) and Hillary Clinton. PHOTOS: AFP, REUTERS

HOLLYWOOD • Mr Bernie Sanders has defiantly vowed again to take his campaign to the Democratic National Convention, even as Mrs Hillary Clinton edged closer to clinching the party's presidential nomination and the final primary contests draw near.

Two days before today's primaries in California and five other states, Mr Sanders repeated his pledge not to concede even if Mrs Clinton acquires enough delegates to reach 2,383, the threshold for securing the Democratic nomination for presidential candidate.

But with her victory in the Puerto Rico primary on Sunday, Mrs Clinton is only 28 delegates short of the threshold and will most likely declare victory today.

Mr Sanders, however, insisted that the convention will be contested because he is still lobbying superdelegates - party officials and state leaders who cast their votes at the convention - to withdraw support from Mrs Clinton and back him instead.

Mr Sanders also opened a new line of attack against Mrs Clinton, criticising donations made by foreign governments, while she was secretary of state, to the Clinton Foundation, founded by former president Bill Clinton.

"Do I have a problem when a sitting secretary of state and a foundation run by her husband collect many millions of dollars from foreign governments, governments which are dictatorships?" Mr Sanders said on Sunday on CNN. "You don't have a lot of respect there for opposition points of view for gay rights, for women's rights. Yes, do I have a problem with that? Yes, I do."

Mr Sanders and Mrs Clinton spent Sunday campaigning in California - the former secretary of state and her husband visiting black churches, appealing to a demographic that had given her important support in past contests.

Mrs Clinton talked about issues such as gentrification and gun violence and told congregants how difficult it was to be President.

"I wish it was only about making speeches," she said. "You know, just get up there and promise the moon and make all of these rhetorical flourishes. That'd be a lot easier than what the job is."

NEW YORK TIMES

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 07, 2016, with the headline Sanders still won't concede defeat. Subscribe