Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a campaign stop in Hooksett, New Hampshire, September 30, 2019.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
Bernie Sanders will be participating in the next Democratic presidential debate on Oct. 15 in Ohio, the senator’s campaign told CNBC on Thursday, one day after a health scare.
“[Campaign] operations are continuing as usual and he will be at the debate,” Sanders’ spokeswoman Sarah Ford wrote in an email to CNBC. She declined to comment further.
The news comes after the Sanders campaign said Wednesday the Vermont senator was putting his campaign on hold as he recovers from an artery blockage procedure, in which he had two stents inserted.
“Sen. Sanders is conversing and in good spirits. He will be resting up over the next few days,” Sanders’ campaign advisor Jeff Weaver said Wednesday.
The 78-year-old senator is the oldest presidential candidate seeking to challenge President Donald Trump, 73, in the 2020 general election.
During his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, Sanders released a doctor’s note stating the senator was in good health and did not have a history of heart disease.
Sanders has committed to release his medical records before next year’s primaries and caucuses begin.
As of Monday, Sanders was third among Democratic candidates, with 16.8% support, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average. Joe Biden was in first with 26.2% support. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was in second with 24% support.
In recent weeks, Warren has been eating into Biden’s frontrunner status, which had seen the former vice president poll over 40% back in May.
