“Revolutions rarely give way to gracious expressions of defeat,” the New York Times reports.

“And so, despite the crushing California results that rolled in for him on Tuesday night, despite the insurmountable delegate math and the growing pleas that he end his quest for the White House, Senator Bernie Sanders took to the stage in Santa Monica and basked, bragged and vowed to fight on.”

“In a speech of striking stubbornness, he ignored the history-making achievement of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, who became the first woman in American history to clinch the presidential nomination of a major political party.”

Politico quoted Sanders: “The struggle continues.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders “plans to take stock of his presidential campaign at his home in Burlington, Vt., following Tuesday’s primary here and in five other states,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Sanders: “Let’s assess where we are after tomorrow before we make statements based on speculation.”

Jonathan Chait: “The system isn’t rigged. Clinton is going to win the nomination because she has won far more votes. She currently leads with 55 percent of the total vote to 43 percent. That’s fairly close for a primary, but it’s not Bush-versus-Gore close. It’s not even Bush-versus-Dukakis close (the 1988 election, widely seen as a landslide, was settled by less than 8 percent).”

“Clinton’s lead in pledged delegates is proportionally smaller than her lead in total votes because Sanders has benefited from low-turnout caucuses. Yet Sanders has enjoyed astonishing success at framing his narrative of the primary as a contest that, in some form or fashion, has been stolen from its rightful winner. His version of events has bled into the popular culture and fueled disillusionment among his supporters.”

New York Times: “Mr. Sanders’s chances of winning the Democratic presidential nomination have been fading since Hillary Clinton’s big win in April in New York. With her victory on Sunday in Puerto Rico, she stands only 28 delegates short of securing the nomination, and she is almost certain to clinch it on Tuesday when New Jersey, California and four other states hold primaries. But one would not know that from the enthusiastic throngs of supporters who still flock to hear him call for a transformation of America’s economy and for a political revolution.”

“Some are there in solidarity with his message, and others because they believe Mr. Sanders when he says, against the odds, that he can still snag the nomination at the party’s convention in July. And then there are many who, regardless of their outlook on the race, are streaming in for what they believe may be their last glimpse of a political phenomenon.”

Wall Street Journal: Sanders camp split over next step

“How do you do it? It’s a good question. And the truth is, right now I’m a bit busy running for president to have figured that out, other than to tell you that it requires a mass-based political effort bringing millions of people together.”

— Sen. Bernie Sanders, in an interview with Rolling Stone, on how he would get his proposals through a GOP-controlled Congress.

A new Public Policy Institute of California poll finds Hillary Clinton just ahead of Bernie Sanders in the California Democratic primary, 46% to 44%.

Wall Street Journal: “Would it change anything if Bernie Sanders actually narrowly won Kentucky’s presidential primary instead of narrowly losing it to Hillary Clinton?”

“Hoping to find out, the Sanders campaign is requesting a recanvass from the state, where he trails Mrs. Clinton by less than half a percentage point. The recanvass involves asking elections officials to review electronic voting machines and absentee ballots in the state’s 120 counties. State law allows him to request this at state expense. Unlike a recount, which he’d have to pay for, individual ballots will not be examined.”