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Home • Politics

Sanders Campaign Says He Will Participate In April Debate

According to a top campaign official, Bernie Sanders is still a candidate for the Democratic nomination and plans to attend related events as scheduled.
Sanders Campaign Says He Will Participate In April Debate
MANCHESTER, NH – SEPTEMBER 07: Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention at the SNHU Arena on September 7, 2019 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Nineteen presidential candidates will be attending the New Hampshire Democratic Party convention for the state’s first cattle call before the 2020 primaries. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
By Tanya A. Christian · Updated December 6, 2020

Calls for Bernie Sanders’s withdrawal from the presidential race continue to mount, but the Senator’s campaign said that he will continue to fight. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that the 2020 hopeful plans to participate in the April democratic debate if the Democratic National Committee decides to hold the scheduled event.

Concerns over the coronavirus left Sanders and former vice president Joe Biden sparring at an empty D.C. venue earlier this month, and to date, the DNC has not yet announced a media partner or site to host the April stage. Still, Sanders’s decision to announce his participation clearly demonstrates his willingness to continue his campaign, despite trailing Biden in delegates.

“Senator Sanders is still running for president,” Mike Casca, a top campaign official told the NYT. “If there is a debate in April, he plans to be there.”

Sanders Campaign Says He Will Participate In April Debate
TOPSHOT – Democratic presidential hopefuls former US vice president Joe Biden (L) and Senator Bernie Sanders greet each other with a safe elbow bump before the start of the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, DC on March 15, 2020. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Sanders led a crowded field of hopefuls throughout the Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vegas primaries and caucuses, but hit a stumbling block during the “First in the South ” primary. Biden walked away from South Carolina with a helpful endorsement from Congressman Jim Clyburn and managed to capture nearly 61 percent of the Black vote. Victories on Super Tuesday, “Super Tuesday II,” and the two states that voted last week, put Biden more than 300 delegates ahead of Sanders.

Article continues after video.

To date, the senator from Vermont has 910 delegates, compared to Biden’s 1,214. A candidate needs 1,991 delegates to secure the nomination. Though Sanders’s chances of capturing the nomination look doubtful, it has not stopped him from holding live-stream events amid the COVID-19 crisis. His last virtual address garnered more than a million viewers, according to his National Press Secretary Briahna Joy Gray, and he’s been fervent about pushing his Medicare For All agenda.

The April debate may be the next time both Sanders and Biden address the masses. But for now, Xochitl Hinojosa, a spokeswoman for the DNC says, “We have no updates at this time. We are taking things day by day, as is the rest of the country.”

TOPICS:  2020 democratic debates 2020 election 24 Hours With Bernie Sanders 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Democratic primary Essence News Joe Biden 2020 News Politics tanya christian