Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race Wednesday, setting up a general election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
The independent senator from Vermont announced his move in a conference call with staff, after he suffered a series of crushing primary losses and the coronavirus pandemic stalled his campaign for weeks. Speaking to supporters, he said the path to winning the Democratic presidential nomination is “virtually impossible,” adding that he did not want to put effort into a doomed campaign as the coronavirus pandemic rips through the country.
“I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour,” he said in remarks livestreamed from his Vermont home.
After early triumphs in the Democratic primary, Sanders failed to pull away from Biden as a field that once numbered more than 20 candidates dwindled. Sanders saw success from Iowa to New Hampshire, Nevada, Colorado and California.
But he fell behind in the national delegate race as prominent Democrats, worried that he could become their nominee and face Trump in November, coalesced around Biden. After a string of primaries in mid-March, the former vice president racked up pledged delegates and became the race’s clear front-runner.
The allocation of delegates ground to a halt in recent weeks as a string of states delayed their primaries until June to slow the pandemic’s spread. Wisconsin held its primary Tuesday after a legal battle over whether to delay it, and Sanders eviscerated the conservative-majority state and U.S. Supreme Courts for decisions that led to in-person voting taking place this week. The state will not report results until next week.
Sanders ran on the promise of a political “revolution” and touted his signature single-payer “Medicare for All” plan on the campaign trail. He also promised to cancel student debt and pass free universal child care — popular proposals to expand the social safety net that his rivals nonetheless criticized as unrealistic and expensive.
The senator lapped the field in fundraising with perhaps the most successful small-dollar fundraising operation ever. Though Sanders saw sustained success among young and Latino voters, Biden consistently won over black voters and older Democrats as he topped Sanders in a series of key states such as Texas.
Biden also won Michigan. Sanders had pulled off a stunning upset over eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton there during the 2016 primary campaign after trailing her by double digits in polls.
A week after his Michigan triumph, Biden crushed Sanders in Florida, another delegate-heavy state.
As centrist candidates dropped out of the race to endorse Biden before and after Super Tuesday on March 3, Sanders decried an effort by the party establishment to defeat him.
As he racked up primary victories over Sanders, Biden started to reach out to Sanders’ supporters, many of whom consider him too conservative on issues including health care to climate change. On the night he won the Michigan primary last month, Biden thanked his rival and his backers “for their tireless energy and their passion.”
“We share a common goal — and together we’ll defeat Donald Trump,” he said at the time.
Sanders’ period as the race’s front-runner followed a remarkable rebound from a heart attack last year. The oldest candidate to run for president this year, Sanders experienced “chest discomfort,” during an Oct. 1 event, according to campaign advisor Jeff Weaver.
Testing revealed a “blockage in one artery” and two stents were inserted, Weaver added. Sanders missed only a small amount of time on the campaign trail.
Sanders first vaulted to national fame with a strong 2016 primary race against Clinton.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
