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Bernie Sanders won the Indiana Democratic primary on Tuesday night
Despite being behind in the delegate count, he vowed to fight on in an interview with CNN
Bernie Sanders triumphed over Hillary Clinton in Indiana Tuesday — and reiterated his vow to fight on to the end of the Democratic primary despite his “narrow” path to the party nomination.
“It’s an uphill fight for us. But you know what? I started this campaign 60 points behind Secretary Clinton. We’ve been fighting uphill from day one,” the Vermont independent told CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in an interview after winning Indiana’s primary. “We will continue to fight uphill and I think we still have a narrow path toward victory.”
Sanders needs more delegates to win than are available in the remaining contests, meaning he would need supredelegates to support him in order to win the nomination.
With 93% of precincts reporting in Indiana Tuesday night, Sanders led Clinton 52.4% to 47.6%. Despite his victory, the Clinton campaign seems to have already pivoted toward focusing on her likely general election match-up with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Sanders spent time and about $1.8 million campaigning in Indiana, while Clinton spent virtually nothing.
Sanders defended his decision to remain in the race, arguing that his presence — which has energized a particularly youthful set of Democratic voters during the campaign — will increase participation in the process as the race heads to high-population state like California.
“I think it generates enthusiasm, gets people involved in the political process,” Sanders said. “It results in a higher voter turnout.”
Sanders flatly rejected a notion that Trump, a candidate who shares an outsider appeal and rhetoric on international trade deals with Sanders, could possibly peel away some Sanders supporters if he’s not in the race.
“I think a vast majority of our supporters will not be supporting Mr. Trump,” he said.