Clinton, Trump kick off their White House war
WASHINGTON (AFP/ AP) — Hillary Clinton savored history Wednesday as the first woman to claim the US presidential nomination for a major party, taking stock before a bruising war for the White House against Donald Trump.
On the verge of endorsing Clinton, President Barack Obama will pay tribute to Bernie Sanders' historic candidacy for presidency with an Oval Office meeting. The session is aimed at unifying the Democratic Party for a general election brawl with Donald Trump.
Sanders heads to the White House under intense pressure to drop out and clear the way for Clinton. Though he showed signs he understood the end was near, he's vowed to keep fighting for his movement.
Eight years after she was defeated by Obama, Clinton declared a historic milestone for women on the biggest night of her more than threedecade political career, determined to shatter the ultimate glass ceiling and become America's first female commander-in-chief.
The former secretary of state, euphorically seized the Democratic Party mantle Tuesday flinging her arms wide and beaming at a victory celebration in New York with primary wins in four of six states including the grand prize, California.
''I was overwhelmed,'' she told The Washington Post in an interview. ''I was worried that... the emotion of the moment would be so intense that I might have trouble getting through the speech itself. So I did have to collect myself and try to get prepared.''
She is a pioneering if polarizing stateswoman whose unfavorability ratings are second only to Trump -- the brash billionaire and political neophyte who rewrote the campaign playbook to clinch the Republican ticket with mudslinging unparalleled in modern US politics.
The ferocity of the primaries – few have seen a US presidential race characterized by such denigrating attacks – promises to be just a preview of what is in store for the general election.
On Wednesday she made a fresh appeal to supporters of her selfdeclared Democratic socialist rival Bernie Sanders, saying that they shared the same goals and must unite against Trump.