Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Tuesday that the team "absolutely" planned to keep fighting to flip superdelegates from Hillary Clinton throughout the summer, even if Clinton had won the pledged delegate count in the primary.
Clinton breezed to a double-digit victory in the New York primary Tuesday, making Sanders' hopes of winning the Democratic nomination increasingly dim. It was a critical victory for Clinton, who served the Empire State in the U.S. Senate for eight years.
Weaver told MSNBC's Steve Kornacki that it was unlikely Clinton could achieve the requisite number of pledged delegates to clinch the nomination before the convention, leaving it in the hands of unpledged superdelegates.
However, as Kornacki pointed out, those elected officials and party higher-ups are overwhelmingly in favor of the establishment favorite Clinton.
"You know as well as I do, if June 7 comes and goes and Hillary Clinton has won the pledged delegate count in the primaries, and she's won the popular vote, there are going to be calls from her campaign and calls from a lot of influential delegates in this country for you, the Sanders campaign, to make a decision to unite around her," Kornacki said.
"You're saying, instead of that, you will spend those months, those weeks in the summer, trying to flip superdelegates to Bernie Sanders before the convention?"
"At this point, yes, absolutely," Weaver said.
Clinton appears to already be looking ahead to the general election, remarking on Monday she hoped to win New York and "wrap up" the Democratic nomination fight.
With the big win, Clinton put a halt to Sanders' recent momentum in what has become an increasingly bitter race. The two have ratcheted up their rhetoric over the past month, and at their CNN debate last Thursday, their arguments were often laced with anger.