WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders says he will vote Hillary Clinton for president.
While stopping short of a full endorsement, Sanders says he's "pretty good at arithmetic." The Vermont senator says he understands that Clinton has more pledged delegates than he does. Sanders says, "I will do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump" because he says Trump's campaign is built on bigotry and denying climate change.
Sanders tells MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that his job now is to "fight for the strongest possible platform" at the convention. Sanders says that includes a higher minimum wage.
JUST IN: @BernieSanders says "yes," he will vote for @HillaryClinton in November https://t.co/6FT0ZLi0JG
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 24, 2016
The statement follows a hotly contested primary campaign between Clinton and Sanders for the Democratic Party nomination.
Clinton currently has 2,811 convention delegates to Sanders' 1,879. A total of 2,383 delegates are needed to secure the nomination.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for July 25-28 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This is a breaking story. More details will be posted when available.