Sanders ends presidential bid, leaving Biden as Democrat nominee

WASHINGTON: US Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign on Wednesday, clearing the way for rival Joe Biden to secure the Democratic nomination and challenge Donald Trump in November.

The 78-year-old democratic socialist shook up the 2020 race with his pursuit of economic justice and a demand for universal health care. Sanders acknowledged his campaign fell short, as party voters determined Biden would be a stronger candidate to go up against Trump in the general election.

“I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful,” Sanders told supporters in a livestream from his home, where he has remained during the coronavirus pandemic that put the campaigning on hold.

“Vice president Biden will be the nominee,” he said, adding that he congratulated Biden, calling him “a very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward.”

Sanders mounted a formidable 2020 bid and raised astonishing amounts of money from record numbers of donors. He the frontrunner early this year and earning the most votes in the first three state-wide contests.

Today I am suspending my campaign. But while the campaign ends, the struggle for justice continues on. https://t.co/MYc7kt2b16

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 8, 2020

Biden surged past Sanders and won the vast majority of remaining primaries and now holds a commanding lead in the race for delegates who choose the nominee. Sanders brought his liberal ideological platform including a call for universal health care and a $15 hourly minimum wage into mainstream politics.

“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,” Sanders said.

I know Bernie well. He’s a good man, a great leader, and one of the most powerful voices for change in our country. And it’s hard to sum up his contributions to our politics in one, single tweet. So I won’t try to. https://t.co/Z6OkCDWFNm

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 8, 2020

Biden immediately hailed Sanders as “a good man, a great leader, and one of the most powerful voices for change in our country.” He urged Sanders supporters to join his campaign, which already has the backing of nearly all other ex-rivals in the race including senators Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar, and former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg.

“I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country,” Biden said in a statement to Sanders and his supporters. “I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. You’re needed.”

Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday! This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted, same as the Crooked Hillary fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Trump made his own pitch for Sanders’s supporters. “Bernie Sanders is OUT!” the president posted on Twitter, saying Senator Elizabeth Warren helped split the liberal vote by remaining in the race during key contests, thereby helping Biden. “The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!” Trump said.

Trump won the 2016 election with help from disaffected working-class voters who believed they were being left behind by politicians in Washington. Sanders also appeals to those voters and warned the coronavirus crisis was causing an economic meltdown that has resulted in millions of lost jobs and regaining access to health insurance.

Sanders said he would not remain in an unwinnable campaign that would interfere with important anti-coronavirus work while the country is gripped by crisis. He stressed remaining on the ballot and seek to gain as many delegates as possible in order to exert influence over the direction of the party.