Bernie Sanders endorses Hillary Clinton: 'She will be the next president'
Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Tuesday.
"Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nominating process," Clinton's formal rival said between banners the read "Stronger Together" as the crowd erupted. "And I congratulate her for that."
"She will be the Democratic nominee for president and I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States."
"I have come here to make it as clear as possible as to why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton. This campaign is not really about Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders. This campaign is about the needs of the American people and addressing the very serious crises that we face. And there is no doubt in my mind that as we head into November, Hillary Clinton is far and away the best candidate to do that."
Sanders touched on major topics like minimum wage, taxes, Obamacare and student debt.
"It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of topics," Sanders said, but added that after meeting over the weekend the party had developed a platform he could stand behind.
"We produced by far the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party," the senator proclaimed to cheers.
"Hillary Clinton understands that our diversity is one of our greatest strengths," Sanders added, saying that Americans of all race, ethnicity and sexual orientation need to come together.
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The endorsement comes less than two weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia and after the Vermont senator vowed to take the primary race all the way to the convention.
The Clinton campaign has been eager to gain the support of Sanders' passionate followers, and recently made changes to Clinton's policy on funding for education -- officially supporting a plan to make public college free for all students from families earning under $85,000 a year immediately and all those under $125,000 a year by 2012.
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