Although Hillary Clinton has garnered enough votes to win the election, Bernie Sanders has not yet conceded. "I know that the fight in front of us is a very, very steep fight, but we will continue to fight for every vote and every delegate we can get," he wrote in a letter on Facebook Wednesday. On Thursday, Sanders met at the White House with Obama, who was expected to nudge him toward ending his campaign, The New York Times reported. But after the meeting, Sanders did not concede or endorse Clinton. Instead, he said he planned to continue campaigning through the Washington, D.C. primary on Tuesday, according to ABC.
"I spoke briefly to Secretary Clinton on Tuesday night, and I congratulated her on her very strong campaign," he told reporters. "I look forward to meeting with her in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump and to create a government which represents all of us and not just the one percent."
"Bernie Sanders says he will do everything he can to prevent Trump from becoming president, does not offer Clinton endorsement," the Associated Press reported. When asked by a New York Times reporter about Obama's subsequent endorsement of Clinton, Sanders was reportedly quite mum:
Obama seems to have already accepted Clinton as the nominee. According to a statement from the White House released to CNBC, he congratulated her on Tuesday for "securing the delegates necessary to clinch the Democratic nomination for president."
However, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday that Obama wasn't going to tell Sanders to end his campaign, according to ABC. "At this point, the president believes that Sen. Sanders has more than earned the right to make his own decision about the course of his campaign."
