Instead of speaking to a big campaign rally jammed with a cheering crowd, Biden canceled a planned event in Cleveland over worries surrounding the Coronavirus.
He used his remarks to a smaller group of supporters to urge his critics to join his campaign.
“I want to thank Bernie Sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion," Biden said. "We share a common goal, and together we’ll defeat Donald Trump.”
While Biden is still far away from the magic number to clinch the Democratic Party nomination, his wins last night made it that much more difficult for Sanders to catch him.
"I want to thank Bernie Sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion," Joe Biden says after a strong showing in Tuesday's primaries. "We share a common goal and together, we'll defeat Donald Trump" #CNNelection pic.twitter.com/1A3xqTGavT
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 11, 2020
Tonight may be worse for the electoral left than Super Tuesday was. Michigan played an enormous role in Sanders’s electoral theory - that there was a big rust belt electorate ready for his ideas.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) March 11, 2020
Opponents will now argue that the 2016 win was a low-turnout fluke.
With his own campaign event in Cleveland also canceled because of the Coronavirus, Sanders went back to his home town of Burlington, Vermont, as he did a week ago on Super Tuesday.
But unlike Super Tuesday, Sanders made no statement to cameras or reporters, a highly unusual move during a presidential primary race.
"Tonight's a tough night," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) acknowledged in a live chat on Instagram as the votes came in.
Some of his top supporters vowed to press on.
People close to @BernieSanders tonight are acknowledging to me that tonight was a “tough night” but also say they and likely the senator believe there is still a “slim path” to winning the nomination. It seems the next time we hear from Bernie, he will be saying as much.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 11, 2020
Bernie is not speaking tonight, but his aides are on Twitter attacking Joe Biden and previewing Sunday's debate. https://t.co/dMDU8OUcpL
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) March 11, 2020
The only question for Sanders now is if he will stay in to debate Biden. It would take the most improbable Hail Mary performance for him to turn the race around, but he might still relish the idea of debating Biden one-on-one
— Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) March 11, 2020
Next up are four important states for November - Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, and Florida, as 577 delegates are at stake next week, with a debate planned for Sunday night in Phoenix between Biden and Sanders.
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