Bernie Sanders vows to continue presidential campaign: 'The struggle continues'

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pledged to continue his presidential campaign during a rally late Tuesday night in Santa Monica, California.

"Our fight is to transform this country and to understand that we are in this together," he said, adding, "and to understand that the struggle continues."

Sanders' remarks came as he trailed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in that state's primary -- though he said the gap would "significantly diminish" -- and hours after he lost the primaries in New Jersey and South Dakota. He insisted that he would continue his campaign into next month's Democratic National Convention.

The senator did acknowledge that he congratulated Clinton on her victories tonight, and said he also spoke to President Barack Obama.

"I look forward to working with him to make sure that we move this country forward," he said.

He also redoubled his attacks on the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

"The American people in my view will never support a candidate whose major theme is bigotry," Sanders said.