Bernie Sanders has been invited to continue his underdog bid for the White House by the Green party’s probable presidential candidate, who has offered to step aside to let him run.

Jill Stein, who is expected to be endorsed at the party’s August convention in Houston, told Guardian US that “overwhelming” numbers of Sanders supporters are flocking to the Greens rather than Hillary Clinton.

Stein insisted that her presidential bid has a viable “near term goal” of reaching 15% in national polling, which would enable her to stand alongside presumptive nominees Clinton and Donald Trump in televised election debates.

But in a potentially destabilising move for the Democratic party, and an exciting one for Sanders’ supporters, the Green party candidate said she was willing to stand aside for Sanders.

Bernie Sanders has been invited to continue his underdog bid for the White House by the Green party’s probable presidential candidate, who has offered to step aside to let him run.

Jill Stein, who is expected to be endorsed at the party’s August convention in Houston, told Guardian US that “overwhelming” numbers of Sanders supporters are flocking to the Greens rather than Hillary Clinton.

Stein insisted that her presidential bid has a viable “near term goal” of reaching 15% in national polling, which would enable her to stand alongside presumptive nominees Clinton and Donald Trump in televised election debates.

But in a potentially destabilising move for the Democratic party, and an exciting one for Sanders’ supporters, the Green party candidate said she was willing to stand aside for Sanders.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders told talk show host Stephen Colbert on Thursday he has no immediate plans to endorse Hillary Clinton in her general-election race against Donald Trump.

Sanders flatly said “no” when asked by Colbert whether he would endorse Clinton, who has effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, during Thursday's taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also told Colbert he's "absolutely" continuing his presidential bid and said the need to "transform America," is more important than political campaigns.

"All of you and everybody else who’s watching have got to be involved in the political process, have got to stand up and fight for the kind of America that we know that we can become and I’m never going to give up on that fight," Sanders said to applause.

Colbert's audience clapped and chanted "Bernie" when he walked on stage. About half gave Sanders a standing ovation.

"You’ve gotten used to that," Colbert said. "Sounds awfully good," Sanders replied.

Dozens of Republican convention delegates are hatching a new plan to block Donald Trump at this summer’s party meetings, in what has become the most organized effort so far to stop the businessman from becoming the GOP presidential nominee.

The moves come amid declining poll numbers for Trump and growing concern among Republicans that he is squandering his chance to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. Several controversies — including his racial attacks on a federal judge, his renewed call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States and his support for changing the nation’s gun laws — have raised fears among Republicans that Trump is not really a conservative and is too reckless to run a successful race.

Given the strife, a growing group of anti-Trump delegates is convinced that enough like-minded Republicans will band together in the next month to change party rules and allow delegates to vote for whomever they want at the convention, regardless of who won state caucuses or primaries.

The new push is being run by people who can actually make changes to party rules, rather than by pundits and media figures who have been pining for a Trump alternative. Many of the delegates involved supported Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) in the primary race but say they are not taking cues from any of Trump’s vanquished opponents.

Bernie's summer was supposed to be about strengthening his hand for the Democratic convention. But since the California primary, his position has gotten weaker.

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Leverage: it’s the one thing Bernie Sanders’ advisors and aides consistently point to when asked why, exactly, he’s formally staying in the Democratic primary race that he’s lost to Hillary Clinton.

But it's the one thing he’s been bleeding every day ever since he dropped California’s primary by a much wider-than-expected margin last week. Sanders’ summer was supposed to be all about building leverage for the Democratic convention, providing him with a better hand to play as he presses Clinton to accept his policy positions and party reform suggestions. Now, the people closest to him aren’t sure how exactly to get it back.

His first and most prominent endorsers have jumped off the bandwagon, congratulating and in some cases endorsing Clinton — from Sen. Jeff Merkley to Rep. Raul Grijalva, and from the Communications Workers of America to MoveOn.org.Each of the big-name Democrats and groups who steadfastly remained neutral in the primary have flocked to Clinton over the past week, from President Barack Obama to Sen. Elizabeth Warren to the AFL-CIO. Even Sanders' highest-profile congressional endorsee, Nevada’s Lucy Flores, lost her primary bid on Tuesday despite his cash injection into her campaign.

Yet on Thursday night, speaking to over 200,000 viewers who tuned into his live-streamed video address, Sanders vowed to press on — pledging to fight to defeat Donald Trump but refusing to formally back Clinton and insisting his army of supporters isn’t going anywhere.

Hello, my name is Donald Trump.
Hello, and I would like to build a wall
That goes straight through your house.

I really need this job.
Oh, God, I need this job.
I've got to get this job!

The latest New Yorker cover features Hillary Clinton smiling through the bumps and bruises she’s endured over a lifetime spent in politics.

“You’ve got to respect or at least be impressed by someone who has been counted out many times but repeatedly gets up from the mat, ready for the next round,” said illustrator Barry Blitt.

We couldn’t agree more.

Washington (CNN)In a day filled with a flurry of meetings with national Democratic leaders, Bernie Sanders appeared to acknowledge Thursday that the end of his 2016 White House campaign is drawing near.

The Vermont senator also signaled his commitment to party unity: After meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, Sanders pledged to work with Hillary Clinton to defeat Donald Trump this fall.

CNN asked Sanders' supporters at a rally here to reflect on the senator's campaign. They expressed a mixture of disappointment and defiance, as well as pride about what Sanders has accomplished. They also shared their trepidation about Clinton and Trump.

Bernie Sanders had a painfully awkward reaction to being asked about President Barack Obama's endorsement of Hillary Clinton moments after news of it broke online.

"Senator Sanders, what is your reaction to the president endorsing Hillary Clinton today?" a reporter asked Sanders, who was sitting across from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

Silence.

Reid attempted to thwart additional questions, but reporters asked again what Sanders' thoughts were.

Sanders remained silent.