Democratic debate: Biden and Sanders bump elbows amid coronavirus threat, say they wash hands frequently
The 11th Democratic presidential debate held on Sunday, March 15, was a two-man affair and it took place behind closed doors because of the ongoing coronavirus scare. The debate started off with questions on coronavirus and both former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders chipped in with their thoughts and plans over the same.
There weren’t too many dissimilarities on their respective talks over the coronavirus response and the duo also revealed the precaution taken at personal and campaign levels against the deadly virus that has claimed over 6,000 lives worldwide.
Sanders was first asked the question by one of the moderators and the 78-year-old, who suffered a heart attack while campaigning in Las Vegas late last year, said his campaign has already taken measures. Sanders said although he loves doing rallies, they have been called off and instead his campaign was doing online events, like one they did last Saturday, March 14. Biden, 77, also said he was holding virtual town halls, first of which was done on Friday, March 13, night.
Both the veterans echoed the precautionary measures they are taking at the personal level. They said they were not shaking hands and washing their hands with soaps and sanitizers countless number of times. The two even greeted each other with an elbow bump at the beginning of the debate and greeted the moderators from a distance after the debate got over.
Sanders said he is in good condition while Biden said he has no underlying health issues.
On their response plans to coronavirus, Sanders was particularly critical of President Donald Trump and took on the pharmaceutical industry saying there were people there who were feeling ecstatic over the coronavirus crisis thinking it has opened more avenues for them to make profit.
Biden had a couple of terrific Tuesdays in March to increase his delegate lead over Sanders in the race for the presidential nomination. He has 885 delegates at the moment as against Sanders’ 732. The two will next lock horns in four states — Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Arizona — going to polls on Tuesday, March 17.