As media outlets called Rhode Island for Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, with early triumphs in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, claimed her victories with a nod to her rival.
Hillary Clinton thanks Bernie Sanders for “challenging” her in victory speech
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“I applaud Sen. Sanders and his millions of supporters for challenging us to get unaccountable money out of our politics and giving greater emphasis to closing the gap of inequality,” Clinton said in her speech. “And I know together, we will get that done. Because whether you support Sen. Sanders or you support me, there’s much more that unites us than divides us.”
It is a decisive night for Clinton, who, despite having the delegate count in her favor for some time, has been pushed increasingly left on Sanders’s progressive talking points like minimum wage and campaign finance reform.
“That’s why we’re setting bold progressive goals, backed up by real plans that will improve lives. After all, that is how progress gets made. We have to be both dreamers and doers,” she continued, then moved to a nod at a famous line of her husband, Bill’s. “And as a great Democratic president once said, there is nothing wrong with America that can’t be cured by what’s right with America.”
But now, Clinton is turning her attention to the Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who has started to throw some punches at Clinton saying she only has “the woman card” to play in the general election.
“Mr. Trump accused me of playing the, quote, woman card. Well, if fighting for women’s health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in,” Clinton said.
