Hillary Clinton Claims the Democratic Nomination

Hillary Clinton claimed the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday night after decisive victories in the New Jersey and New Mexico primaries, and quickly appealed to supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont to unite with her against Donald J. Trump.

At a rally in Brooklyn, Mrs. Clinton took the stage with her hands clasped over her heart in gratitude, then threw open her arms in joy and savored a long moment as a jubilant crowd waved American flags and chanted “Hillary.”

Reaching for history as she became the first woman to win a major party’s nomination, Mrs. Clinton pledged to build on the achievements of pioneers like the 19th-century leaders at Seneca Falls, N.Y., who began the fight for women’s rights in America.

“Tonight caps an amazing journey — a long, long journey,” Mrs. Clinton said, nearly a century after women won the right to vote nationwide. “We all owe so much to those who came before, and tonight belongs to all of you.”

She also lavished praise on Mr. Sanders, saying that their “vigorous debate” had been “very good for the Democratic Party and America.”With six states voting on Tuesday, Mr. Sanders was holding out hope for a huge upset in the California primary to justify staying in the race and lobbying Democratic officials to support him in a contested convention next month.

Mr. Sanders won the North Dakota caucuses, while Mrs. Clinton won South Dakota; Montana Democrats also voted. Republicans voted in several states.

Though Mr. Sanders made plans to lay off much of his campaign staff, he appeared reluctant to let go completely after months of political warfare against a Clinton machine that he holds in thinly veiled contempt.

President Obama plans to meet with Mr. Sanders at the White House on Thursday at the candidate’s request, an administration spokesman said, adding that Mr. Obama had called both Democratic candidates Tuesday night to congratulate them on “running inspiring campaigns.”

As Mrs. Clinton sought to turn her attention to the general election, Mr. Trump, who had a weekslong head start, was busy reckoning with problems of his own making. His criticism of a federal judge, Gonzalo P. Curiel, for the judge’s Mexican heritage continued to inflict damage on his campaign, as the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, called Mr. Trump’s remarks racist and other Republicans piled on. One Republican senator rescinded his support.

Mr. Trump, speaking in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., pledged to make Republicans “proud of our party and our movement,” though he did not try to defuse the controversy. Instead, reading carefully from a teleprompter, he mounted a lengthy attack on Mrs. Clinton’s record, saying she had “turned the State Department into her private hedge fund.” And he teased a speech, “on probably Monday of next week,” that he said would delve into “all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons.”