Bernie Sanders drops out of 2020 presidential race

Sen. Bernie Sanders announced on Wednesday April 8th, he is ending his presidential bid, an exit that comes after an abrupt and stunning turnaround that saw him go from a frontrunner to a distant second place behind former Vice President Joe Biden in less than three weeks following the Democratic primary in South Carolina.

Sander first broke the news in a conference call with his staff, and his campaign subsequently announced his decision in a statement. He addressed and thanked his supporters via live stream shortly before noon.

“Together we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice,” Sanders said.

The onetime frontrunner’s backslide was fueled by other candidates dropping out and coalescing around Biden and then accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the cancellation of campaign events and the postponement of voting in some states. 

His decision to leave the race came one day after Wisconsin held its primary election as planned following decisions from state and U.S. supreme courts. That vote featured stunning pictures of voters risking infection in long lines; many wore masks in accordance with federal guidelines.

While results in the state are not set to be announced until April 13, Wisconsin is something of a final shot for Sanders. Sanders won the state when he first ran for president in 2016, and while he initially led the polls in Wisconsin this time around, Biden vaulted ahead there in recent weeks following his victories in the Super Tuesday primaries on March 3. 

The quick shift in the primary was a painful one for Sanders, particularly since the senator and many of his allies believed the coronavirus spotlighted the need for the aggressive expansion of public health programs that was a core part of his platform. Nevertheless, in the final days of his campaign, Sanders’s decision to remain in the race as the possibility of a victory slipped away frustrated even some of his senior staff.

Source: Yahoo News

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