My primary race against Bernie Sanders is effectively over, says Hillary Clinton....

Hillary Clinton says race against Bernie Sanders is 'done'

• 19 May 2016
 
• From the section US Election 2016

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Image captionMrs Clinton had strong words for her Republican rival Mr Trump

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said her primary race against Bernie Sanders is effectively over.

"I will be the nominee for my party," she told CNN in an interview. "That is already done, in effect. There is no way that I won't be." 

Mr Sanders has come under pressure to bow out since Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee.

But the Vermont Senator has vowed to fight until the party convention.

Mrs Clinton holds a commanding lead in the delegate count.

Democratic leaders are concerned about party unity after a clash between officials and Sanders supporters at a party convention in Nevada over the weekend.

• Zurcher: Nevada chaos should worry Democrats

Sanders supporters yelled at party officials and picked up chairs. The state's party chairwoman later received death threats. 

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Analysis: Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter

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Image captionMr Sanders has said he will remain in the race until the party convention

Hillary Clinton's insistence that the race for the Democratic nomination is effectively over is supported by delegate maths, but it will do little to quell the growing acrimony between her supporters and those of Bernie Sanders.

The Vermont senator continues to insist that he has a narrow path to the nomination and will fight for every last delegate.

Mrs Clinton has tried ignoring these claims. Now she's addressing them head-on, perhaps hoping it will allow her to shift focus onto Donald Trump. Over the coming weeks she will likely test out a variety of possible lines of attack against the Republican, including the charge that he is too risky to put in the Oval Office.

This critique echoes concerns I encountered numerous time on the campaign trail among those who supported Mr Trump's Republican opponents. Mrs Clinton may be hoping that a campaign crafted around national security could win over independents and moderate Republicans who are uneasy with Mr Trump's brash style and foreign policy inexperience.

It may be an effective strategy - but it's one made more difficult as long as Mr Sanders continues to act as a thorn in Mrs Clinton's left flank.

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Senator Minority Leader Harry Reid said Mr Sanders had not done enough to rein in his supporters.

The Sanders campaign has sought to downplay the Nevada incident.

Also in the interview, Mrs Clinton said Mr Trump, her likely general election opponent, is not qualified to be president. 

Her reasons included Mr Trump's plan to bar Muslims from travelling to the US, his call to step back from Nato and his negative comments about the UK government, which she called America's "closest ally".

Mrs Clinton called Mr Trump "dangerous" and said he could not be trusted in sensitive national security situations like the operation that killed Osama Bin Laden.