Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on Wednesday lashed out at CNN reporter Manu Raju after Raju asked after the senator’s campaign plans.
“I’m dealing with a fucking global crisis. You know, we’re dealing with,” Sanders said when Raju asked if the senator was planning to announce a decision to end his presidential campaign.
When Raju pointed out Sanders is technically still running for president, the senator responded, “Well right now, right now I’m trying to do my best to make sure that we don’t have an economic meltdown and that people don’t die. Is that enough for you to keep me busy for today?”
The exchange came after the Sanders campaign announced on Wednesday morning the senator would “assess his campaign” following former vice president Joe Biden’s sweep of the Florida, Illinois, and Arizona primaries on Tuesday. Biden currently holds 1,147 delegates to Sanders’s 861, making a Sanders victory all but impossible.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign has been making overtures to Sanders supporters as the former vice president’s delegate lead has widened.
“Our goal as a campaign, and my goal as a candidate for president, is to unify our party — and to unify our nation,” Biden said at a rally on Tuesday night.
Several states including Georgia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Louisiana, as well as Puerto Rico, have delayed their primaries due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, and it is unclear if the Democratic presidential race will be affected by the delays. If Sanders remains in the primary up to the convention, some states may decide to hold mail-only voting, following Ohio’s example.