Sanders still going strong. Cites major differences with Clinton. Asks followers to run for local of

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WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders told his supporters Thursday night in a live, online video address that their next major political task is to help make sure presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump "is defeated and defeated badly" in November.

The Vermont senator, speaking from his hometown of Burlington, Vt., didn't suspend his presidential campaign or endorse Hillary Clinton during the 30-minute address, even though Clinton has secured enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination and the primary season has ended. But Sanders said he will begin making his own contribution "in a very short time" to the effort to defeat Trump, who he said "makes bigotry the cornerstone of his campaign."

"We cannot have a president who insults Mexicans and Latinos, Muslims, women and African-Americans," he said. "We cannot have a president who, in the midst of so much income and wealth inequality, wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the very rich. We cannot have a president who, despite all of the scientific evidence, believes that climate change is a hoax."

But Sanders also said that defeating Trump can't be the only goal and that the "political revolution" he has called for throughout his presidential campaign "must continue into the future." He said he looks forward to continued discussions between his campaign and Clinton's in the coming weeks to make certain the Democratic Party passes the "most progressive platform in its history" at its convention in July in Philadelphia.

"It is no secret that Secretary Clinton and I have strong disagreements on some very important issues," said Sanders, who met with Clinton on Tuesday, hours after the District of Columbia held the nation's final 2016 primary. "It is also true that our views are quite close on others."

Continue to Full Story and video at USA Today

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