US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says he will vote for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Asked if he would vote for Mrs Clinton in November, Mr Sanders told MSNBC television: "Yes. The issue right here is I'm going to do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump."

"I think Trump, in so many ways, will be a disaster for this country if he were to be elected president. We do not need a president whose cornerstone of his campaign is bigotry," he said.

Mr Sanders has resisted dropping out of the race even though all the primaries are over and Mrs Clinton is the favourite to secure the party's nomination formally at next month's convention in Philadelphia.

He has said he remains in the race because he wants to exert influence on Mrs Clinton and push her policy positions more to the left.

"What I need to see is a commitment that there will be progressive taxation," he said earlier this month, saying corporations and billionaires should pay higher tax rates.

Mr Sanders has also said he wants to see Mrs Clinton embrace his view that health care should be a universal right in America and public universities should offer education for free.

"Will she go as far as I would like her to go? No, she won't," he said.

"But I think millions of people want to understand and see what kind of commitment she has to addressing the real crises in the country."

Mr Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, did surprisingly well during the primary season by winning over younger voters in particular with his pledges to overhaul what he calls a tainted political and economic system, and work to end income inequality in America.

AFP/Reuters