Sanders reassessing
More losses lead senator to weigh future of campaign.
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said he was reassessing the future of his presidential bid Wednesday after a crushing round of primary losses left him with no realistic path to the Democratic nomination.
A Sanders spokesman denied a report that the Vermont senator was suspending his campaign, but that word came as Sanders pulled down digital advertising on Facebook and Google, triggering further confusion in a contest already upended by the coronavirus.
Earlier on Wednesday, campaign manager Faiz Shakir said Sanders “is going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign.” But Shakir also suggested that Sanders was in no hurry to make any decisions about ending his 2020 bid, noting that “the next primary contest is at least three weeks away.”
More immediately, Shakir said, Sanders “is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuring that we take care of working people and the most vulnerable.”
Reports later surfaced that Sanders was suspending his campaign, prompting spokesman Mike Casca to say that the candidate was “not suspend- ing. Nothing has changed since this morning’s statement.”
In the meantime, Sanders’ campaign deactivated digital ads purchased as recently as Tuesday.
Some Democrats said that with the outlook so bleak, and with a deadly pandemic gripping an anxious nation, Sanders risks looking self-centered and out of step with an insistence on pressing ahead.
“Bernie is getting beat by 30 and 40 points, it’s over,” said Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, who has endorsed Biden. “This is the adult thing to do — knowing when it is time to disappear.”
Sanders reacted testily Wednesday when asked about his plans, suggesting his sole focus should be on the virus.
“I’m dealing with a f ***** g global crisis,” he said, addressing reporters at the Capitol. “You know, we’re dealing dealing with it and you’re asking me these questions.”
“Right now, I’m trying to do my best to make sure that we don’t have an economic meltdown and that people don’t die,” he added. “Is that enough for you to keep me busy for today?”
Even if Sanders decides to keep running, he has little hope of catching Biden, who used victories in Florida, Illinois and Arizona to collect nearly twice as many delegates as Sanders on Tuesday. Sanders now needs to win more than 63% of the remaining 1,757 delegates.
For Sanders, catching up would be the tallest of orders under any circumstances. But that task is even tougher in a political world turned upside down. Neither candidate is traveling or holding campaign rallies, and much of the electorate has been staying home because of coronavirus precautions.
With the exception of North Dakota and the Northern Mariana Islands, Sanders has not won a contest since Super Tuesday on March 3. He made no moves to contact Biden immediately after Tuesday’s results, according to people familiar with the situation who discussed the matter on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the candidates. During online remarks before most results were in, Sanders said little about the future of the race.
Some Democrats said Sanders had already succeeded in promoting his liberal policy agenda, and warned that staying in the race could damage the coalition he has built since 2015.
John Verdejo, a Democratic National Committee member from North Carolina, said that with people focused on simply staying alive along with protecting their families, Sanders “risks eroding any goodwill and the great work he has done to bring the party to where it is now due to his efforts.”
Yet Sanders and his allies point out that 26 states, territories and Washington, have yet to hold primaries and caucuses. There are still 1,399 delegates left to award — and with the primary essentially on hold because of public-health concerns, it could be several months before Biden accumulates enough to secure the nomination — if no other primaries are postponed, the earliest he could pull off would be May 5 with Indiana.
Biden’s campaign understands that it is operating from a position of strength. On Wednesday, it sent a memo that declared an “increasingly clear” path to the nomination and saying the 2020 primary race “is nowhere near as close as the 2008 and 2016 Democratic primaries.”
Sanders, however, has insisted he thinks Biden can beat President Donald Trump, rebuffing a question from a reporter recently about whether criticizing the former vice president could compromise him in November. None of his aides have indicated they are worried that staying in the race will divide the party in a way that benefits Trump.
On Tuesday, Trump formally clinched the Republican presidential nomination after facing minimal opposition.
Information for this article was contributed by Will Weissert, Brian Slodysko, Bill Barrow, Katie Foody, Seth Borenstein and Alexandra Jaffe of The Associated Press; and by Sydney Ember, Reid J. Epstein and Glenn Thrush of The New York Times.