Bernie Sanders To 'Assess' His Campaign After More Primary Losses

“In the immediate term, however, he is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak," his campaign manager said.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will “assess” his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination following another round of primary losses, his campaign said Wednesday.

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

Shakir added: “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 follows Democratic rival Joe Biden’s sweeping victories in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois on Tuesday, further cementing the former vice president’s commanding delegate lead for the party’s nomination.

Sanders led the Democratic pack after the first primary contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada earlier this year, but has been outperformed since Biden’s landslide win in South Carolina last month. Sanders won just four of the 14 Super Tuesday states up for grabs on March 3. He’s won only one of the nine states that have held primary contests since.

Opportunities for the Sanders campaign to make a comeback are running low. Several states have postponed their primaries until the summer as the coronavirus continues to spread across the country.

Puerto Rico is slated to hold the next primary on March 29, followed by Alaska, Hawaii and Wyoming, which are scheduled to hold contests on April 4.

Before polls closed on Tuesday, Sanders delivered a sobering speech about the coronavirus and called on Americans to stand together.

“I don’t have to tell anyone viewing this program that our country and, in fact, the world are facing an unprecedented series of crises,” Sanders said.

Sanders outlined a series of proposals aimed at increasing hospital capacity during the pandemic and protecting Americans most financially vulnerable to restrictions. He said every household should receive $2,000 a month from the government to help make ends meet.

“In this unprecedented moment, this will require an unprecedented amount of money,” he said. “My own guess is that we’ll be spending $2 trillion in funding to prevent deaths, job losses, and to avoid an economic catastrophe.”

Tara Golshan contributed reporting.

CORRECTION: An earlier version mistakenly reported Sanders won two of eight states’ primary contests since Super Tuesday. In fact, he has won one of nine states’ primary contests since then.

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