After disappointing results in primary contests held in six states on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders held a press conference in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont on Wednesday to offer a “campaign update” and said that while the delegate math to win the Democratic presidential nomination is not in his favor, he intends to stay in the race at least through this Sunday’s one-on-one debate with frontrunner Joe Biden.
“We have won the ideological debate, but we are losing the debate over electability,” Sanders said in his remarks. “I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who say they agree with us but will vote for Joe because they believe he’s the best to beat Donald Trump. Needless to say, I strongly disagree with that assertion, but that’s what millions of Democrats and independents say. On Sunday, I very much look forward to the debate.”
Watch Sanders’ complete remarks:
Sanders told reporters that he wants answers from Biden about a number of issues that the Vermont senator has centered his campaign on and that polls have confirmed are important to Democratic primary voters.
“Joe, what are you going to do for the 500,000 people who go bankrupt in our country because of medically related debt, and what are you going to do for the working people of this country and small business people who are paying, on average, 20% of their income for healthcare?” Sanders said he plans to ask Biden on Sunday. “Joe, how are you going to respond to the scientists who tell us we have seven or eight years remaining to transform our energy system before irreparable harm takes place [on] this planet because of the ravages of climate change?”
Sanders pointed out that in 20 primary states — all the states with exit poll data available — majorities of voters said in exit polls that they support Medicare for All. Exit polls in Mississippi, which Biden won by the widest margin in the primary so far, showed that 62% of voters back the proposal. Biden’s healthcare proposal would leave an estimated 10 million people uninsured, according to NBC News.
“Joe, what are you going to do to end the absurdity of the United States of America being the only major country on Earth where healthcare is not a human right? Are you really going to veto a Medicare for All bill if it is passed in Congress?” said Sanders, referring to Biden’s comments to that effect on Monday.
Sanders’ comments followed calls from Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Democratic strategist James Carville Tuesday night for the cancellation of the upcoming debate in Arizona. Clyburn said the Democratic National Committee should “shut this primary down” after Biden’s success in at least four states on Tuesday while Carville told MSNBC, “This thing is decided.”
Biden currently has 837 delegates out of 1,991 needed to win, while Sanders has 689. A number of states with large delegate counts have yet to vote, including New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Sanders expressed his intention to allow voters to see the two Democratic candidates in a one-on-one debate, before many cast their ballots.
“Donald Trump must be defeated, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen,” Sanders said. “On Sunday night in the first one-on-one debate of this campaign, the American people will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best positioned to accomplish that goal.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.