Democratic debate moved over fears

The much-anticipated Democratic presidential debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders was moved to Washington, D.C., amid fears of travel amid the coronavirus crisis.

The shift of Sunday’s clash, which was supposed to be held in Arizona, came as one of the moderators, Jorge Ramos of the Spanishlanguage Univision network, dropped out because he may have been exposed to the fast-spreading virus.

The debate, the first oneon-one debate between Sanders and Biden, will be held without an audience.

The changes are the latest dramatic evidence the coronavirus pandemic has completely upended the presidential campaign.

Biden has taken command of the Democratic race after lopsided victories on Super Tuesday and in Michigan and other states this week.

The former vice president has struck a conciliatory note toward Sanders and his army of progressive supporters, thanking them for their “enthusiasm” and vowing to unite Democrats to beat President Donald Trump.

Sanders is resisting calls to quit the race and is instead vowing to use the debate to vigorously confront Biden over their policy differences. But he has dropped most of his bellicose rhetoric and repeatedly called Biden “my friend Joe” during a speech in Vermont Wednesday.

Democrats believe the coronavirus crisis has given Biden a rare opportunity to showcase his presidential leadership skills. Even Sanders concedes that Democratic voters have largely decided that the former vice president has the best chance of beating Trump in November.

Trump is facing widespread criticism of his handling of the pandemic, especially his insistence that it will soon “go away.”

He has continued his trademark political grandstanding as the virus inflicts widespread economic pain and social dislocation.

The president told reporters that he is ready to take on Biden in the November elections, even as he claimed that Sanders was being treated unfairly by the Democratic establishment.