Democrats are starting to come up with ways for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to exit the presidential race without turning his supporters against Hillary Clinton, the assumed nominee.
According to CNN, high-ranking Democrats have been meeting and discussing the issue. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid recently had a conversation with Sanders himself about his options.
Sanders is mathematically eliminated from earning the nomination, and many have urged him to step aside and let the party unite behind Clinton as she gears up for a probable presidential campaign against Republican Donald Trump.
"We will walk out of our convention with a nominee," Clinton supporter and California Rep. Xavier Becerra told CNN. "We should be able to walk into the convention in a consolidating mode."
CNN reports that if Sanders refuses to back down and quit the race, Democrats could do any number of things to help nudge him out of the race: get rid of superdelegates, make Sanders one of the marquee speakers at the July 25-28 convention in Philadelphia, or replace DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Sanders insisted Wednesday his campaign will press on after next week's primaries in California, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, New Mexico, and South Dakota. The Democratic election in Washington, D.C. will close out the primary season a week later.
"Our campaign has been dismissed more times than we can count ... but we're still standing," Sanders said
during a rally in Palo Alto, Calif. this week.
Clinton said her campaign and Sanders' campaign have
"been reaching out to each other" as they try to join forces to stop Trump.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.