James Clyburn wants primaries to shut down if Biden sweeps the states, nudges Sanders to drop out
After not winning a single of the first four states that went to the caucuses/primaries starting February 3, former vice president Joe Biden has bagged 13 of the next 17 states, including Mississippi, Missouri and the big prize Michigan on Mini Tuesday (March 10). His main rival Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, has struggled to match pace with Biden especially after the latter secured endorsements from almost all former presidential runners who united the moderate voters against Sanders’ left-leaning supporters.
After his impressive show on Mini Tuesday which proved his performance on Super Tuesday was no fluke, Biden thanked Sanders and hinted that it was time for him to drop out and make it a united effort to defeat President Donald Trump. “I want to thank Bernie Sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion. We share a common goal and together we'll defeat Donald Trump - we'll defeat him together,” the 77-year-old said in Philadelphia a little bit before 11 pm on Tuesday after his planned rally in Cleveland was canceled amid coronavirus scare.
Jim Clyburn wants primary to end in favor of Biden
Biden’s thought found an ally in House Majority Whip and South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn who also said on the same day that the primaries should be ended if Biden won the Mini Tuesday overwhelmingly. The influential African-American Democratic lawmaker, who endorsed Biden as the president just three days ahead of the SC Primary on February 29 and played a key role in his decisive win, called his candidate a “prohibitive favorite” to bag the Democratic nomination.
“I think when the night is over, Joe Biden will be the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination, and quite frankly, if the night ends the way it has begun, I think it is time for us to shut this primary down, it is time for us to cancel the rest of these debates,” Clyburn, 79, said on the National Public Radio. “Because you don't do anything but get yourself in trouble if you continue in this contest when it's obvious that the numbers will not shake out for you,” he added.
Sanders did not address supporters of the media on Tuesday night after the debacle in Michigan even as his supporters threatened to quit the Democratic Party if Biden got the presidential nomination. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand leftist leader and a representative from New York who endorsed Sanders as the president, conceded on an Instagram livestreaming that it was a tough night for the movement.
Andrew Yang endorses Biden
The former No.2 at the White House, however, got yet another endorsement during the day and it was from another former presidential campaigner Andrew Yang. The entrepreneur who is a commentator on CNN now, ended his presidential run on February 11 after the New Hampshire Primary.
"I believe that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee and I've always said I'm going to support whoever the nominee is," Yang said. "So I hereby am endorsing Joe Biden to be not just the nominee for the Democratic Party but the next president of the United States." Yang, who also called Biden "prohibitive nominee", said the Democratic Party should come together as a party-starting Tuesday night.