Biden, on brink of White House run, reaches out to Sanders to ‘beat Trump together’
- Joe Biden wins biggest prize Michigan, deals major blow to Bernie Sanders
- Both candidates cancelled rallies amid concerns about coronavirus spreading
Joe Biden handily captured the Democratic primary in Michigan on Tuesday, scoring a crucial victory over Bernie Sanders to build a strong lead in the fight for the party’s presidential nomination.
On a roll since taking command of the race last week, Biden also racked up victories in Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho, padding his delegate lead over Vermont’s senator and lengthening the odds of a Sanders comeback.
Speaking after sweeping the first three primaries, Biden said the he and Sanders shared a “common goal”.
“I want to thank Bernie Sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion,” he said.
“Together we’ll defeat Donald Trump … We’ll bring this nation together.”
“Tonight we’re a step closer to restoring decency, dignity and honour to the White House. That’s our ultimate goal,” Biden said in Philadelphia, his wife Jill Biden at his side.
Michigan was the night’s largest prize on the path to the Democratic presidential nomination.
In a state that Sanders won four years ago against Hillary Clinton, the win gives Biden the lion’s share of the state’s 125 delegates to the July Democratic National Convention that will pick a challenger to Trump.
The six states holding their primaries – Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington – have 352 delegates, making up nearly 10 per cent of the delegates up for grabs in the Democratic race this year.
Sanders was on Wednesday declared the winner in North Dakota while Washington remained in the balance.
Biden, the former vice-president under Barack Obama, was powered to the victories by strong support from a broad coalition of groups, including women, African-Americans, those aged 45 and older, and all but the very liberal, according to exit polls conducted by Edison Research.
Even as the contours of the race came into shape, new uncertainty was sparked by fears of the spreading coronavirus. Both candidates abruptly cancelled rallies in Ohio that were scheduled for Tuesday night. That set the stage for Biden’s remarks in Philadelphia, while Sanders flew home to Vermont and didn’t plan to address the public.
Until now, Democratic candidates as well as Trump, 73, have largely continued to hold large-scale events despite the outbreak.
The Democratic National Committee announced there will be no live audience for the debate between Biden and Sanders scheduled for Sunday amid concerns about spreading the coronavirus.
Biden, 77, was looking to take a big step toward the nomination to face the Republican Trump in the November 3 election after becoming the front-runner with a series of sweeping wins over Sanders in last week’s Super Tuesday contests.
Since last week’s romps, Biden has roared into the national lead in polling and delegates, knocked out all remaining viable rivals except Sanders and swept up a wave of endorsements from former contenders such as Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.
On Tuesday tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang backed Biden’s presidential bid, saying it’s time for Democrats to rally around the former vice-president and get ready for the general election.
A supporter of Bernie Sanders in 2016, Yang said the Vermont senator inspired his own presidential run, which Yang ended in February before signing on as a CNN political commentator.
Yang said he believes the progressive ideas expressed by candidates like Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and himself “will have a voice in the Biden administration to start solving these problems”.
Before Tuesday’s primaries Biden had already racked up 670 in earlier primaries, compared to Sanders’ 574.
With more than half the total 57 primary contests still in front of them, a candidate needs to top 1,991 delegates to capture the nomination.
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Tribune News Service
