Sanders refuses to quit presidential race with 1,900 Bernie delegates attending DNC

Bernie Sanders will remain in the Democratic presidential race until the convention in July and keep pushing his opponent Hillary Clinton on the issues he believes matter to voters.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday, Sanders was asked when he would suspend his campaign and responded, “Well, right now, again, we are doing everything we can to address the major crises facing working families in this country and we are going to use all of the tools we can to do that.”

“We have some 1,900 delegates who are going to be coming to Philadelphia,” Sanders said. “Those delegates, without exception, are going to stand up and fight to make sure that the working class has a voice in this country, that government listens to them, that we end a corrupt campaign finance system.”

“That’s what this campaign has been about and will continue to be about,” he added.

Sanders has been raising money to send delegates to the convention, which costs more $4,000 per person, the Hill reports.

“Our delegates are not wealthy campaign contributors. They're not party insiders or establishment elites. They're working folks, and it's not easy for many of them to fly to Philly and stay in hotels for a week," campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in an email sent to reporters on Tuesday.

Weaver stressed the importance of having all delegates at the convention as they “expect there could be critical votes for the party platform and electoral process.”

“We'd hate to fall short on these votes because some of our delegates couldn't afford to go to the convention," he added.

Mitchell asked if it would be a contested convention, to which Sanders replied that they’re “doing everything" they can "to make the Democratic platform as progressive as it can be,” echoing his earlier statements made to USA Today. 

Sanders has said he would vote for Clinton come November, but wants her to make adjustments to appeal to Sanders voters.

Mitchell said people didn’t understand his reluctance to go so far as to endorse Clinton.

“I would respectfully disagree and suggest that many people do understand. Our job is to transform America... that is what I am fighting to do.” Sanders explained.

 “My job right now is to make the Democratic party as open, as inclusive, as progressive as it possibly can be, and that’s what we’re working on as we speak.”

"If secretary Clinton makes those positions clear, she will defeat Trump, and defeat him by a very large margin,” he added.

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Sanders could also be holding out for the West Wing scenario, in which a candidate can be nominated from the floor of the convention, regardless of how they did during the primaries, particularly if the FBI decides to indict Clinton for sending classified emails on her private server.

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