Bernie Sanders says it would be 'absurd' to drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination when so many large states are yet to vote.

'To suggest that we do not fight this out until the end, would be I think a very bad mistake,' Sanders told MSNBC.

Hailing the number of young people who have voted for him, Sanders said, they are the 'future of America, that is the future of the Democratic Party.' And by having a 'vigorous' primary season, he told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, it 'opens up the possibility of high voter turnout in November.'

Sanders sidestepped a news report detailing a private conversation President Barack Obama had with donors last Friday about the state of the race and the likelihood that Hillary Clinton will be the party's nominee.

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Bernie Sanders - seen above at a town hall event yesterday in Arizona - says it would be 'absurd' to drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination when so many large states are yet to vote

Hailing the number of young people who have voted for him, Sanders said, they are the 'future of America, that is the future of the Democratic Party.' And by having a 'vigorous' primary season, he told MSNBC, it 'opens up the possibility of high voter turnout in November'

Obama more or less told donors that Sanders' time is nearly up in the presidential primary, and they'll soon have to line up behind Clinton.

Clinton struggles with 'authenticity', Obama reportedly said at the Austin, Texas, fundraising event but told donors that is not all-important to winning.

And while he did not explicitly call on Sanders to get out of the race, the president is said to have suggested that his continued candidacy could help Republicans.

The New York Times first reported the comments, backed up by three independent sources and a White House official who said they were true.

The president's spokesman denied yesterday that Obama endorsed Clinton. That's not what he said, Josh Earnest told reporters.

The senior administration official was unable to directly deny the story or tell the press exactly what Obama did say, though.

Earnest said he was in the the room when Obama delivered those remarks at an event the media was invited to join at the beginning, then escorted out of before the portion in dispute.

'President Obama made a case that would be familiar to all of you, which is that as Democrats move through this competitive primary process, we need to be mindful of the fact that our success in November in electing a Democratic president will depend on the commitment and ability of the Democratic Party to come together behind our nominee and the president did not indicate or specify a preference in the race,' Earnest said.

President Barack Obama more or less told Democratic donors last Friday that Bernie Sanders' time is nearly up in the presidential primary, and they'll soon need to line up behind Hillary Clinton

Continuing, the White House official said, 'The president pointed out...that both of the Democrats who are running, because they have demonstrated an understanding and a commitment to building on the progress we've made thus far, would be far better presidents than anybody that's been put up on the Republican side.'

That is consistent with the case Obama has made publicly, Earnest stated.

And while Obama does have a preferred replacement - the president's cast a ballot in the Illinois Democratic primary this year - 'he has not indicated that preference.'

As the president has said before, he believes 'he will have an important responsibility in the summer and the fall once the nomination process has concluded in bringing the party together' after the 'vigorous debate' between its Oval Office contenders concludes.

'Which by the way, the president believes is really good for the party,' he said, as it will help the eventual nominee to sharpen his or her skills exercise the organizational 'muscle' of the Democratic Party.

He added, 'But once this process comes to a conclusion, everybody in the Democratic Party will understand the stakes....and given those stakes will need to unify behind the Democratic Party nominee to ensure that he or she can win in November.'

According to the New York Times' sources, Obama acknowledged that Clinton doesn't get people 'excited' like Sanders does. The White House admitted to the Times that Obama indeed said that.

The president also suggested he prefers Clinton, speaking highly of her, and said that while George W. Bush, a Texas native and his predecessor, had authenticity, he wasn't a very good president.

His spokesman wouldn't say yesterday during his regular briefing with reporters if that part of the article was true - that the president derided his former secretary of state's authenticity.

'I'm not gonna get into the president's private comments. I recognize there's some people who talk about those private comments,' he said. 'I'm not gonna do that from here.'

Clinton struggles with 'authenticity', Obama reportedly said at an Austin, Texas, fundraising event but told donors that is not all-important to winning. And while he did not say Sanders should get out of the race, the president is said to have suggested that his continued candidacy could help Republicans

Maddow tried to get a reaction to the president's comments out of Sanders during their interview later in the day, but he said, 'I don't want to speculate on what he said or what he didn't said.'

The U.S. senator noted the push back from White House, 'kind of indicating that he didn't say' exactly what was reported and moved on.

'The bottom line is that when only half of the American people have participated in the political process....I think it is absurd for anybody to suggest that those people not have a right to cast a vote,' he said.

Less than half of the pledged delegates in the Democratic race have been won, and the Sanders campaign said Wednesday that it still believes it can beat Clinton though it trails her significantly at present.

The senator will pick up speed as states along the West Coast vote, his advisers insisted.

Clinton has a lead of more than 300 pledged delegates, and she claims to have the support of 467 superdelegates that don't have to make a choice until the convention and could still change their mind and vote for Sanders.

Her campaign says their pledged delegate lead alone is nearly 'insurmountable' and soon she'll have the nomination locked down.

Sanders told MSNBC that with a low voter turnout in November 'somebody like a Trump can win.'

'High voter turnout, the Democratic candidate will win,' he said.' I think we have the issues, I think the American people are prepared to vote strongly against Trump, but we need to have a 50-state process...in which the American people can participate.'

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow tried to get a reaction to the president's comments out of Sanders during their interview later in the day, but he said, 'I don't want to speculate on what he said or what he didn't said'

The White House made a similar argument yesterday as it addressed the Times-generated, drop-out controversy.

'The president has noted that Senator Sanders deserves a lot of credit for the passion that he has inspired among Democrats all across the country,' Earnest said. 'Senator Sanders is talking about deeply held views and doing it in a way that deeply resonates with people.'

He said, 'That's a testament to his skills as a leader and as a politician and as somebody whose got his values in the right place.'

At the same time, Earnest said, 'The president's also talked about Secretary Clinton and her leadership abilities and the way that she has drawn her own passionate following the historic nature of her candidacy certainly has something to do with it.

'But so does he track record of fighting for the kinds of values and advancing the kinds of values that Democrats have long championed.'

As a general matter, his spokesman said, 'That's why the president feels especially fortunate to be in a party that can actually be proud of its presidential candidate.'

The not-so-subtle dig was directed at Republicans who have apologized for and distanced themselves from Donald Trump at one time or another.

'We find that Republican leaders in Washington, D.C. spend a lot of time doing that. And the truth is, they haven't done it enough,' Earnest said.

Directing the scrutiny toward Republicans and away from the president, the White House official said that even when GOP leaders do admit to disagreeing with Trump, 'They continue to insist they will support him.