Sanders’ campaign says he’s reassessing
— Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says he is reassessing his campaign, raising questions about whether he will drop out after losing three more states and falling prohibitively behind former Vice President Joe Biden in the race.
A Sanders spokesman denied a report that the Vermont senator was suspending his campaign Wednesday afternoon, 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.
Hours earlier, campaign manager Faiz Shakir said Sanders “is going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign.” But Shakir also suggested 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, Sanders “is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuring that we take care of working people and the most vulnerable,” Shakir said in a morning statement.
Reports later surfaced that Sanders was suspending his campaign, prompting spokesman Mike Casca to say in a statement that the candidate was “not suspending. Nothing has changed since this morning’s statement.”
In the meantime, Sanders’ campaign has deactivated digital ads purchased as recently as Tuesday.
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. Biden now needs less than 47% of the remaining delegates not allocated to win the nomination. President Donald Trump awaits the nominee.
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, along with daily life, amid efforts to combat a pandemic that has killed more than 100 people in the United States.
Neither candidate is traveling or holding campaign rallies, and much of the electorate has been staying home.
Also Tuesday, Trump formally clinched the Republican presidential nomination after facing minimal opposition.
But much of the action was on the Democratic side, where higher vote totals in some key states suggested enthusiasm that even the coronavirus couldn’t contain. Turnout in Florida’s Democratic primary surpassed the 1.7 million who cast ballots four years ago.