Bernie Sanders’ campaign says he is reassessing, not dropping out
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that he is reassessing his campaign, raising questions about whether he will drop out after losing three more states and falling prohibitively behind Joe Biden in the 2020 race.
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 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 suspending. Nothing has changed since this morning’s statement.”
In the meantime, Sanders’ campaign 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. Sanders now needs to win more than 63% of the remaining 1,757 delegates. President 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...