Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is assessing his campaign following Joe Biden’s (D) sweep in Tuesday’s primary elections, his campaign manager Faiz Shakir said on Wednesday.
Biden defeated Sanders in every state that voted on Tuesday — Florida, Arizona, and Illinois — by significant margins. The former vice president secured Florida by almost 40 percentage points, Arizona by 12 percentage points, and Illinois by 23 percentage points, according to the latest updates on Wednesday morning.
With that, as well as his losses on Super Tuesday and “mini” Super Tuesday in mind, Sanders is assessing his campaign.
“The next primary contest is at least three weeks away,” Shakir said in a statement Wednesday. “Sen. Sanders is going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign.”
“In the immediate term, however, he is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuring that we take care of working people and the most vulnerable,” Shakir added.
At this point in the race, Biden leads Sanders by 292 delegates, taking what the New York Times describes as an “all but insurmountable lead.” According to NPR’s updated delegate tally, Sanders, who has 861 delegates, would need a majority, or 62.9 percent of the remaining available delegates to seal the nomination. Biden, who boasts 1,153 pledged delegates, needs 46.6 percent of the remaining delegates to win the nomination.
The numbers clearly favor Biden, who has remained on an upward trajectory since his victory in South Carolina.
A candidate needs 1,991 to win the nomination on the first ballot. However, it remains to be seen how the coronavirus pandemic could shape the remainder of the race. Several states — including Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maryland, and Ohio — have postponed their elections, meaning it could take longer for the party to finalize the Democrat nominee.
President Trump weighed in on the state of the Democrat race on Wednesday and predicted that Sanders will be “dropping out soon”:
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