April 10, 2020—Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign on April 8, 2020, leading former Vice President Joe Biden to take the nomination.
Multiple sources report different statements with an NPR article by Scott Detrow titled, “Bernie Sanders Suspends His Presidential Campaign” saying, “‘I wish I could give you better news, but I think you know the truth. And that is that we are now some 300 delegates behind Vice President Biden, and the path toward victory is virtually impossible,’ Sanders told supporters in livestreamed remarks, shortly after he had broken the news to campaign staff.”
In a New York Times article titled, “Bernie Sanders Drops Out of 2020 Democratic Race for President”, journalist Sydney Ember reported, “In a live-streamed speech, Mr. Sanders, eloquent but without his characteristic spark, cast his decision in the broader context of the fight against the coronavirus. ‘I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour,’” Mr. Sanders said, adding, “‘While this campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not.’”
The confusion whether he’s dropping out or suspending is still iffy. The NPR article also said, “Still, Sanders said he’ll remain on the ballot in the rest of this year’s primaries, in order to win more delegates to bring to the Democratic National Convention. The more pledged delegates Sanders has, the more he’ll be able to influence the party’s platform and rules.”
Biden put out a statement after Sanders’ announcement on April 8 at 12:13 p.m..Found on medium.com, and sent out via tweet, Biden says, “But more than any one issue or set of issues, I want to commend Bernie for being a powerful voice for a fairer and more just America. It’s voices like Bernie’s that refuse to allow us to just accept what is—that refuse to accept we can’t change what’s wrong in our nation—that refuse to accept the health and well-being of our fellow citizens and our planet isn’t our responsibility too. Bernie gets a lot of credit for his passionate advocacy for the issues he cares about. But he doesn’t get enough credit for being a voice that forces us all to take a hard look in the mirror and ask if we’ve done enough.”
The former VP has now adopted more progressive ideas such as lowering the medicare age from 65 to 60 and increasing student-debt forgiveness to scoop up Sanders’ supporters. The New York Times reporters Shane Goldmacher and Sydney Ember, in an article titled, “Biden, Seeking Democratic Unity, Reaches Left Toward Sanders’s Ideas” says, “‘Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas,’ Mr. Biden, the former vice president, said in a statement announcing the package. Top Sanders aides had been intensifying talks with the Biden campaign in recent days to find common ground on policies. The Biden team’s willingness to move in Mr. Sanders’s direction was a key factor in the senator’s decision to exit the race.”
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/08/814291136/bernie-sanders-is-suspending-his-presidential-campaign
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/politics/bernie-sanders-drops-out.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/us/politics/biden-sanders-medicare-student-debt.html
https://medium.com/@JoeBiden/statement-from-vice-president-biden-5de128a935ac