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Bernie Sanders says he will vote for Clinton — but only to stop Trump

"We do not need a president whose cornerstone of his campaign is bigotry, is insulting Mexicans and Latinos and Muslims and women," Sanders said on Friday.
Photo by Justin Lane/EPA

Bernie Sanders has vowed to continue his presidential campaign all the way to the Democratic National Convention in late July, and he has kept going after Hillary Clinton on everything from her ties to Wall Street to her support for the Iraq war, despite the fact that Clinton has enough delegates to clinch the party's nomination.

But now, Sanders says he'll vote for Clinton.

Asked Friday on MSNBC's Morning Joe whether he plans on voting for Clinton in the general election, the Vermont senator said yes. But he stopped short of offering a full endorsement.

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"I think the issue right here is I'm gonna do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump," Sanders said. "I think Trump in so many ways would be a disaster for this country if he were to be elected president."

"We do not need a president whose cornerstone of his campaign is bigotry, is insulting Mexicans and Latinos and Muslims and women," he added.

Related: Donald Trump blames Hillary Clinton for just about everything

Trump has tried to woo disaffected Sanders supporters over to his side in recent weeks with his populist message and firebrand outsider appeal. This has made the Clinton campaign increasingly nervous that they will not be able to attract Sanders supporters and unite Democrats by the November general election.

Sanders withheld his endorsement of Clinton, saying that he wants to see her shift more to the left before the party's convention in Philadelphia. He hopes to have a large role in shaping the party platform to focus more on liberal issues such as labor, income inequality, and criminal justice.

Sanders finally admitted that "it doesn't appear that I'm going to be the nominee," during an interview on C-SPAN on Wednesday, almost a month after Clinton clinched the Democratic nomination.

"I think it is fair to say that the Democratic platform will be by far the most progressive platform in the Democratic Party," Sanders said.

Follow Olivia Becker on Twitter: @oliviaLbecker