Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has suspended his 2020 presidential campaign, the Democratic candidate announced on Wednesday, after a lackluster primary showing and the Covid-19 pandemic ruled out any hope of victory.
Sanders announced he was dropping out of the race in an email to supporters, vowing that while “the campaign ends, the struggle continues.” His departure leaves former vice president Joe Biden as the sole Democratic candidate going into a nominating convention that has already been postponed until August due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Also on rt.com Sanders jumps overboard leaving clueless Captain Biden at helm of Democrats’ burning shipWisconsin’s disastrous primary on Tuesday may have contributed to the senator’s decision to drop out, as voters braved the coronavirus and dozens of shuttered polling places to queue for hours in the hope of making their voices heard. Sanders had called for switching to mail-in ballots, a measure that was blocked at the last minute by the state supreme court.
Lagging behind his centrist rival by 303 delegates as of Wednesday, Sanders faced near-insurmountable odds of reaching the ‘magic number’ of 1,991 necessary to secure the party nomination.
Also on rt.com 2016 will rise again! Hillary supporters do victory lap as Sanders drops out of 2020 raceSanders took to Periscope to address his supporters after announcing his departure from the race, declaring that “our movement has won the ideological struggle” because progressive ideas like Medicare for All had gained wider acceptance.
The decision to drop out “has been very difficult and painful,” Sanders said.
“While we are winning the ideological battle…I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful,” Sanders acknowledged, congratulating Biden — “a very decent man, who I will work with to move our ideas forward” — on gaining the nomination.
However, Sanders revealed he would remain on the ballot in the primary states that have yet to vote, in an effort to exert pressure on the party’s platform for 2020. "Please stay in this fight...the struggle continues," he implored his supporters.
Also on rt.com Bernie Sanders betrayed his supporters the second time. There won’t be a thirdCentrist Democrats had been calling on Sanders to drop out for weeks, insisting Biden’s victory was a foregone conclusion, even as their candidate’s TV appearances became markedly erratic and some questioned his fitness for office.
Also on rt.com Reading the autocue has never looked so hard: Joe Biden emerges from 6 DAYS in hiding with stumbling video streamPresident Donald Trump weighed in on Sanders’ exit on Twitter, thanking Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren for diverting a hefty chunk of votes away from the candidate on Super Tuesday.
The president remarked that the Democratic National Committee — which notoriously interfered in the 2016 race to tilt it in Hillary Clinton’s favor — had once again snatched victory from the Vermont senator’s hands.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!