Joe Biden moves closer to sealing Democratic nomination against Bernie Sanders – but loses his cool in gun rights conversation
Joe Biden swept four of six Democratic primaries on Super Tuesday 2, capturing Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Idaho with Bernie Sanders only winning North Dakota.
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Joe Biden has cemented his lead in the Democratic candidacy, winning at least four of six primaries on what has been dubbed Super Tuesday 2.
His main competition, socialist Bernie Sanders, was predicted to potentially hold on in Washington State in a nailbiter, but lost the night’s biggest prize – Michigan – in a strong sign that his campaign is faltering.
Mr Sanders did win North Dakota, the only state he has so far managed to pick up on last night’s “mini” Super Tuesday primaries.
Mr Sanders stole Michigan from rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary race, but he underperformed across all demographics in Tuesday’s poll, in which 125 delegates were at stake.
Continuing a trend started in South Carolina last month, Mr Biden won 84 per cent of the African-American vote in Mississippi, a southern state with a 64 per cent black population.
He also easily won in Missouri with 60 per cent of the vote, and Idaho with nearly 48 per cent.
Counting was neck-and-neck in left-wing bastion Washington State, while Mr Sanders was slightly ahead in early counting in North Dakota.
The former vice president to Barack Obama, Mr Biden’s languishing campaign received a momentous boost from a last minute endorsement from the top African-American Democrat before surging to the lead in last week’s Super Tuesday poll.
Before yesterday’s poll, Mr Biden had taken 635 delegates and Mr Sanders 558, but last night the popular moderate was close to opening up a triple-digit lead over the far left Mr Sanders.
The magic number to win the nomination is 1991.
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang said he believed Mr Biden would win the Democratic race and offered his endorsement.
“The math says Joe is the prohibitive nominee,” said Mr Yang, a tech tycoon who had campaigned on paying a universal basic wage to all Americans.
“We need to bring the party together. We need to start working on defeating Donald Trump.”
Mr Biden’s “huge win” was a relief to the moderate wing of the party, said former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm.
“Sanders previously did so well... in Michigan, but it looks like Joe Biden is running the table,” she said.
“There is a huge chance that he can put together a coalition like the Obama coalition.
“This is great signal going forward that people are ready to put someone in there who is going to beat Donald Trump.”
Mr Biden gave a brief and sedate speech before cheering staffers in Philadelphia, thanking the former rivals who had endorsed him after dropping out of the race.
“Just over a week ago, many pundits declared this candidacy was dead,” he said.
“Now we’re very much alive.”
The Trump 2020 campaign said Mr Sanders had been robbed of the nomination by the Democratic establishment.
“It has never mattered who the Democrat nominee turns out to be, and now that there are only two options left, it is clear that they are two sides of the same coin,” campaign manager Brad Parscale said.
“The Democrat candidate for president will be running on a big government socialist agenda regardless of the name on the ballot. It is also clear that the Democrat establishment has rallied around the confused Joe Biden in an effort to deny the nomination to Bernie Sanders. Either way, President Trump is on an unstoppable drive toward re-election.”
Mr Sanders and Mr Biden will next face each other on the debate stage on Sunday night, an event which will not be held with a live crowd amid concerns over coronavirus.
Both candidates cancelled their election night rallies in Cleveland, which will vote next week, after the Ohio declared a state of emergency due to COVID 19.
Earlier, Mr Biden was filmed in a fiery confrontation with a gun rights advocate in his final hours campaigning ahead of the primaries.
The usually mild-mannered former VP waved his finger at a high-vis wearing worker who challenged him on his gun record, insisting that he had no plans to take away “AR 14s”.
The guns he was likely referring to are controversial AR 15s, the semi-automatic rifles popular with mass-killers that were used in attacks including at a Parkland, Florida, high school, a Pittsburgh synagogue, the New Zealand mosques and at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Mr Biden also urged the hard-hat wearing union worker to “not be such a horse’s ass” as he insisted Mr Biden was “actively trying to take away our Second Amendment right and take away our guns”.
“You’re full of shit,“ Mr Biden responded.
“I support the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment — just like right now, if you yelled ‘fire,’ that’s not free speech,” Mr Biden stormed.
“And from the very beginning — I have a shotgun, I have a 20-gauge, a 12-gauge. My sons hunt. Guess what? You’re not allowed to own any weapon. I’m not taking your gun away at all.”
The worker said he had seen a “viral video” showing Mr Biden’s anti-gun intent.
“Well, it’s a viral video like the other ones they’re putting out, which are simply a lie,” Mr Biden said, referring to doctored videos his political enemies have been sharing that show him apparently endorsing Donald Trump.