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Sanders and his allies collected nearly 800,000 signatures on an anti-TPP petition and delivered them to the platform meeting in large cardboard boxes.

But his proposed amendment, which would have opposed a vote on the trade agreement, was defeated 116-64 by the platform committee.

"We must empower every representative of the Democratic Party to speak clearly against the TPP," said Ben Jealous, a former head of the NAACP and a Sanders delegate.

Robert Kraig, a Sanders supporter from Wisconsin, said: “We’ve had no speech in favor of TPP, but we can’t bring ourselves to say that we oppose TPP?"

The platform draft as it stands recognizes that there are "a diversity of views" on the deal within the party.

The platform committee's decision means that the fight over the TPP is likely to continue at the convention later this month.