Riverside, California

Hillary Clinton didn't waste any time in targeting Donald Trump as she began speaking at a Riverside rally Tuesday saying California will send the presumptive Republican presidential nominee a message on June 7. It's a message she said "that Donald Trump will hear no matter where he is, that California wants a positive future." Trump’s remarks “may have started out as entertainment but now it’s really concerning," she said. “I don’t want what he says to go unanswered,” said Clinton, adding "You're fired" won't work in the White House. Clinton touted the burgeoning economy of the 90s and blamed Republicans for today's inequality, promising to raise taxes on the wealthy. She told the crowd that she will work for immigration reform, will take on the gun lobby, and promised to support a US Supreme Court justice who would overturn Citizens United. As California's trove of delegates becomes key, Clinton is speaking just a few miles and a couple of hours after her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination Bernie Sanders rallied in downtown Riverside Tuesday afternoon. Clinton is expected to speak in short order at the nearly full Johnson Family Practice Center at the University of California Riverside. State Sen. Richard Roth introduced Clinton, calling her a "problem solver" who "believes in jobs and opportunities for everyone." Mark Macarro, chairman of Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, added that tribal leaders stand with her. And, Grey's Anatomy star Jason George, citing the future of his children, told a cheering crowd this election is about defeating Trump. The mood outside Clinton's rally was decidedly different than at the Sanders event from a couple of hours earlier, the well wishing and sense of solidarity replaced by a group accusing Clinton of genocide and decrying white feminism as not a form of legitimate feminism. Supporters and opponents faced off outside ahead of the former secretary of state's talk. Among them: Two girls in a Mercedes blasting "Sweet Home Alabama" and waving Trump signs. Some people yelled: "When students of color are under attack, stand up, fight back" Pahulpreet Ahluwalia, a 19-year-old student, said he waited hours to hear Clinton speak, but couldn't get in. He said he has family members who are split between the two Democratic contenders for president and came here to sincerely hear Clinton's pitch. To date, he said, he's heard nothing but "hype and media bias." He's still undecided. "I came to the rally to learn," he added, walking away. Clinton and Sanders are competing for the growing number of liberal and independent voters in the Inland Empire, shining a political spotlight on the region. With the primary about two weeks away — and as GOP leaders begin coalescing around Donald Trump — both campaigns are engaged in a major push in California. Clinton said last week that, although she's currently shy of the necessary number of delegates to clinch the nomination, there was "no way" she won't end up earning them. Sanders would need to sway a large number of super-delegates and win an overwhelming percentage of the popular vote here. Hearing Sanders tell it, he's not done in the Golden State yet. He wrapped up his comments at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium throwing down a challenge to Clinton: "Whether she agrees or not we're gonna win here in California," he said to chants of "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie." Either way, he’s vowed to keep fighting until at least the last of the primaries, in Washington, DC, on June 14. And although members of his staff have been leaving, his supporters appear as fervent as ever. READ MORE: Bernie Sanders talks wealth disparity, immigration at Riverside rally As of Saturday afternoon, the calendar on Sanders' site contained details for 194 events within 100 miles of Palm Springs — almost twice the number on Clinton’s site— mostly phone banking and door knocking events for volunteers leading up to the primary. One item mentioned "A team of Traveling Canvassers from Florida" who would be arriving over the weekend and looking for couches to crash on. Sanders appeared later that night in National City — a suburb of San Diego and just minutes from the border — to advocate for “comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship.”

• published: 25 May 2016
• views: 3675