Bernie Acknowledges Reality: “It Doesn’t Appear That I’m Going To Be The Nominee”

More than two weeks after Hillary Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee, Bernie Sanders finally made the public admission that he isn’t going to be the party’s choice for president.

Speaking to C-SPAN, the independent Vermont Senator was reflective and somewhat low-key, compared to his usually more bombastic demeanor. When asked about his role at the upcoming Democratic Convention, he stated the following:

“It doesn’t appear I’m going to be the nominee, so I’m not going to be determining the scope of the convention.”

This, of course, is somewhat shocking, considering his reluctance the past couple of weeks to acknowledge that Hillary is the nominee. While he didn’t go so far as to endorse her or officially concede, he was far from combative or angry at the notion of him not getting the nod, instead focusing the discussion on how he feels he can push the Democratic platform to be more progressive, as well as calling for more voter access during primaries.

WATCH: @BernieSanders: “It doesn’t appear that I’m going to be the nominee.”https://t.co/r2kFFpUWuh

— CSPAN (@cspan) June 22, 2016

Also, Sanders provided a reaction to Donald Trump’s recent flirtations with his supporters, trying to get them to vote for him over Clinton. Bernie seemed most passionate going after the real estate mogul, saying he’d do whatever it took to make sure Trump didn’t win, noting that his campaign is based largely on bigotry and racism.

.@BernieSanders on Donald Trump reaching out to Sanders supporters.https://t.co/KCBjGQLK8i

— CSPAN (@cspan) June 22, 2016

All in all, the tone of this interview was in stark contrast to his livestream video last week, where he continued to call for a political revolution and told his supporters he’d take his campaign to Philly. (Sure, he was careful not to say he was trying to contest the nomination, but he was still sending his followers very mixed signals.) Days later, it seems like he’s coming to terms with the hard-fought loss, and is now just trying to find the right time to officially concede before the convention.