What to Know
- Bernie Sanders said he strongly supports D.C. becoming a state. He said that was the main message he wanted to send to District voters.
- Sanders will continue his campaign and compete in the D.C. primary on Tuesday.
Sen. Bernie Sanders said he is "strongly in favor of D.C. statehood" following a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House Thursday.
The Democratic presidential hopeful said his home state of Vermont has roughly the same population as the District, but unlike D.C., his state has representation in Congress.
"That does not make any sense," he said.
Despite Hillary Clinton's historic primary victories earlier this week, Sanders said he will continue his presidential campaign and compete in the D.C. primary Tuesday. The primary will be the last in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Sanders will hold a rally at 4 p.m. Thursday outside D.C.'s RFK Stadium. The event is free and open to the public, but attendees are asked to RSVP online.
Clinton has also spoken out in favor of D.C. statehood, saying last month she would fight to make D.C. the nation's 51st state if elected president. She wrote about her support for statehood in an op-ed published last month in the Washington Informer.
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"Washingtonians are Americans, too, and it's time they had a say in their own status," she wrote.
Earlier this week, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser asked the Democratic National Committee to add D.C. statehood to its platform.
"Despite the fact that we perform all the functions of a state, Washingtonians do not enjoy the rights of all Americans," Bowser said.
