Bernie Sanders Will "Assess" Campaign After Getting Swept by Biden in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will “assess” his campaign after a rough string of losses to former Vice President Joe Biden.

"The next primary contest is at least three weeks away. Sen. Sanders is going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign," campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. "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."

The statement came after some Sanders advisers told Politico that he would not drop out.

“What I know about Sen. Sanders’ thought process and focus is, it’s all about representing the movement and leading what he initially called the political revolution,” former Sanders strategist Kurt Ehrenberg told the outlet. “And not letting down the people who have been with him all along. I think that’s the most important consideration for him.”

It’s unclear how Sanders would make up ground since many states are moving to postpone their primaries until late spring.

Biden won 19 of last 24 states:

Biden swept Sanders in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona on Tuesday in dominant double-digit wins. Since winning the South Carolina primary, Biden won 10 of the 14 Super Tuesday states and five of the six states that held primaries last week.

Biden won Florida by 39 points, winning every county in the state.

He won Illinois, Obama's home state, by 23 points.

He later completed the sweep in Arizona with a 12-point win.

Biden now has 1,164 delegates while Sanders has 879.

Calls on Sanders to drop out:

Some Biden supporters increased pressure on Sanders to exit the race.

"I think the conversation is going to quickly turn to how and when does Bernie Sanders unite the Democratic Party," former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill told MSNBC. "I do think the pressure is going to mount, especially at this time of crisis in this country, for the Democrats to unite behind clearly the voters' preference."

"No Dem has ever come back from anything like this deficit," said former Obama adviser David Axelrod. "The race for the nomination is over."

 

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