Bernie Sanders Says He's Likely to Vote for Hillary Clinton, But Still Won't Endorse Her

Who will Bernie Sanders vote for in November? "In all likelihood it will go to Hillary Clinton," Sanders says. https://t.co/6kcLznkOWV

— CNN (@CNN) June 24, 2016

CNN's Chris Cuomo: No endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Simply stated: When the day comes in November, and Sanders has to cast his vote, to whom does it go?

Bernie Sanders: In all likelihood, it'll go to Hillary Clinton.

Cuomo: When you say "in all likelihood," what percentage of margin of error—

Sanders: I don't want to parse words here. Here's where we are right now, Chris.

Cuomo: Please.

Sanders: Uh, I want, I believe this country faces enormous crises; I believe our politics and our economics are dominated by big money interests; I believe the Democratic Party has got to become the party of working people, prepared to stand up and take on those special interests. We are working right now, as we speak, with A: the Clinton campaign, trying to see what kind of agreements we can work out; and B: as we speak in St. Louis tonight, there is going to be a big debate about platform, and we're going to try to make that platform as progressive as we can. Then we're going to Orlando, where the whole committee meets; we're going to offer a whole lot of amendments to make it progressive. So my job right now, as a candidate, is to fight to make sure that the Democratic Party not only has the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party, but that that platform is actually implemented by elected officials.

Actually, Bernie Sanders, your job right now, as a defeated candidate, is to help your party win. And you are patently not doing that by continuing to act as a concern troll for the Democratic Party, especially when the Democratic Party platform is already the most progressive it's ever been, and you're out there doing interviews suggesting otherwise.

The effect of continuing to demonize Hillary Clinton and trash the Democratic Party is that 22% of Sanders supporters (according to the latest Bloomberg National Poll) say they will vote for Donald Trump. But Sanders just pretends this reality doesn't exist.

Sanders: Trump "does not understand the people who have supported me ... they are not going to vote for a bigot" https://t.co/zzj96LRdfp

— New Day (@NewDay) June 24, 2016

Cuomo: Trump says that your supporters should be looking at him more than anybody else, because he's the closest in offering to what you did as anybody in the field.

Sanders: Well, I think he—when he says that, he does not understand the people who have supported me. The people who have supported me are not gonna vote for a bigot; somebody who has as the cornerstone of his campaign, uh, insulting Mexicans, Latinos, and Muslims, and women, and veterans, and African Americans. That is not the candidate I believe the people who voted me will support. I'm gonna do everything I can to defeat Trump.

Except, you know, endorse Hillary Clinton. That, says Sanders, is still contingent on whether Clinton is willing to talk to him about free college, and whether the Democratic Party will bend to his will.

Seriously, on a day when Donald Trump is in Scotland, criticizing the President of the United States on foreign soil and revving up white nationalist hatred, Bernie Sanders sitting on CNN and lecturing the Democratic Party, its President, and its nominee that they're not sufficiently progressive by his own personal measure is just about as self-centered and unhelpful (which is the politest way I can possibly put it) as it fucking gets.

I don't know what I find more astounding: His ego or his indifference to the people whose lives and safety hang in the balance.

UPDATE: I've got more on this at BNR.