Sanders to assess campaign after Biden sweeps latest primaries

WASHINGTON • Leftist candidate Bernie Sanders is reviewing the future of his campaign for the White House after his Democratic rival Joe Biden soundly defeated him in the latest primaries and took a strong lead towards winning the party's presidential nomination.

With the coronavirus pandemic forcing more states across the US to postpone primaries and both candidates to halt public rallies and turn to virtual campaigning, Mr Sanders, the former front runner, is under pressure to bow out of the race and let Mr Biden focus on the November election fight against President Donald Trump.

"The next primary contest is at least three weeks away," said Mr Sanders' campaign manager Faiz Shakir in a statement on Wednesday. "Senator Sanders is going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign."

Political moderate and former vice-president Mr Biden, 77, swept all three of Tuesday's contests, building a solid lead in number of delegates ahead of the party's July nominating convention.

Mr Biden handily trounced Mr Sanders in each of Tuesday's battlegrounds. In the biggest prize of Florida, Mr Biden grabbed 62 per cent of the vote against 23 per cent for 78-year-old Mr Sanders.

In Illinois, Mr Biden topped 59 per cent to Mr Sanders' 36 per cent, and in Arizona, Mr Biden came in at almost 44 per cent to Mr Sanders' nearly 32 per cent, while former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has already withdrawn from the race, came in a distant third.

Mr Biden has now won 19 of the 24 contests, with just over half to be held.

The victories underscored Mr Biden's position as the party's front runner and the eagerness of Democratic leaders and the party's rank-and-file to come together around a moderate flag bearer, to challenge Mr Trump.

According to a count by RealClearPolitics, Mr Biden has racked up 1,153 delegates to Mr Sanders' 874, with 1,991 needed to capture the nomination.

Given Mr Biden's substantial lead in national opinion polls among Democrats and in many of the states yet to hold primaries, Mr Sanders faces a very steep battle to overtake his rival.

Former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill urged Mr Sanders to drop out. "I think it is time," she told MSNBC.

"Bernie's going to have plenty of delegates and power to influence the platform," she said, referring to the party's policy principles to be declared at its July convention.

Mr Biden said that he was closer to securing the nomination and was building "a broad coalition" that the party requires to defeat Mr Trump.

"The next president will have to salvage our reputation, rebuild confidence in our leadership, and mobilise our country and our allies to rapidly meet new challenges - like future pandemics. We need a leader who will be ready on day one," Mr Biden said in a tweet on Wednesday.

From the White House, Mr Trump taunted the Democrats, repeating his accusation that the party elite had sabotaged Mr Sanders - who has been viewed by the President's own campaign as the weaker potential opponent in the November contest.

The Democratic National Committee "will have gotten their fondest wish and defeated Bernie Sanders, far ahead of schedule", Mr Trump tweeted.

"Now they are doing everything possible to be nice to him in order to keep his supporters. Bernie has given up, just like he did last time. He will be dropping out soon!" he said, referring to Mr Sanders' failed fight for the nomination in 2016.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE