Despite the anguished cries of foul play by his most fervent supporters, Sen. Bernie Sanders burnished the branch of unity last night with a strong endorsement of presidential rival Hillary Clinton.
The Vermont senator urged delegates to get behind Clinton, subjugating his own resentment about a playing field tilted against him to the party’s greater goal of defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump.
To thunderous cheers from his 1,842 delegates, along with Clinton backers, in the Wells Fargo Center, Sanders implored Americans not to make Trump president.
“This election is about which candidate understands the real problems facing this country and has offered real solutions – not just bombast, not just fear-mongering, not just name-calling and divisiveness,” Sanders told the roaring crowd.
“We need leadership in this country which will improve the lives of working families, the children, the elderly, the sick and the poor,” Sanders said. “We need leadership which brings our people together and makes us stronger – not leadership which insults Latinos and Mexicans and Muslims, women, African-Americans and veterans – and divides us up.”
Sanders’ speech overshadowed the evening’s keynote address by First Lady Michelle Obama, a stirring testimonial of Clinton, the Obama administration’s former secretary of state.
In a powerful plea for Democrats and independents to rally behind Clinton, Obama said Clinton “never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.”
As former President Bill Clinton watched from inside the hall, the first lady delivered a sharp rebuke against Trump, warning that “when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips,” a president “can’t make snap decisions…or “have a thin skin.”
Were DNC emails hacked by the Russians?
Clinton’s campaign, citing a cybersecurity firm hired to investigate the leak, blamed Russia for hacking the party’s computers and suggested the goal was to benefit Donald Trump’s campaign.
Trump dismissed that idea as laughable, tweeting: "The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails."
Sanders supporters certainly weren’t amused. Irate, in fact, that the emails confirmed their long-held suspicions the party had favored Clinton all along.
The FBI announced Monday it was investigating how the hack occurred, saying “a compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously.”
Michael Buratowski, a cyber analyst with the firm that investigated the hack, said his near-certainty that Russia was to blame was based on evidence such as the hackers using Russian internet addresses, Russian language keyboards, and the time codes corresponding to business hours in Russia, as well as the sophistication of the hack.
Protesters make their way to convention site
Most of the protests and rallies have taken place in downtown Philadelphia near city hall. However, that’s about four miles from the vast complex where the convention is being held at the Wells Fargo Center.
Police detained more than 50 people Monday after they tried to go through the barricades around the center.
The Bernie Sanders supporters forced police to close a nearby subway from incoming trains.
People were given disorderly conduct citations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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