WASHINGTON The Bern is flaming out.
Bernie Sanders suffered another string of brutal primary losses on Tuesday, leaving his campaign further behind in the delegate count and with no clear path to winning the Democratic nomination.
In state after state, Sanders underperformed his 2016 numbers by wide margins, shrinking his support in places he needed to improve if he hoped to catch Joe Biden and putting him even further away from the Democratic nomination.
Sanders lost Michigan by a double-digit margin, a major reversal from his narrow win there four years ago. He trailed Biden by more than 25 points in Missouri, a state hed barely lost to Hillary Clinton, with most of the states vote counted. Sanders didnt have much further to fall in Mississippi from his 2016 showing he took just 17% of the state vote then but he somehow managed. With 84% of the vote counted at 11 p.m. Sanders sat at 15.2% of the vote and was at real risk of failing to hit the 15% threshold needed to qualify for any statewide delegates.
Tuesdays results showed that Super Tuesday was no fluke, and the major party coalescing that occurred when many of Bidens remaining primary foes dropped out and endorsed him a little over a week ago has kept rolling. A majority of Democratic primary voters have, at least for now, lined up behind Biden. And barring a huge shakeup, its hard to see how Sanders catches him.
Washingtons switch from a 2016 caucus to a 2020 primary could hurt Sanders as well. Hed won nearly three quarters of the states vote four years ago but early returns indicated a close race in the state that wouldnt give either candidate a major delegate bump. As of publication, Idaho and North Dakota also hadnt been called but neither had many delegates to offer.
READ: Joe Biden just destroyed Bernie Sanders in Michigan
All that comes just a week after Biden shellacked Sanders on Super Tuesday, the primary seasons biggest night. He beat Sanders by wide margins in the big states of Virginia and North Carolina, beating Sanders in states hed won four years ago Maine and Minnesota and kept things much closer in California than Sanders had hoped.
Biden gave very much what sounded like a general election speech on Tuesday night, appealing directly to Sanders supporters while aiming directly at President Trump.
I want to thank Bernie Sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion, he said. We share a common goal, and together we’ll defeat Donald Trump.
While Biden invited Sanders supporters in, Sanders decided not to speak publicly Tuesday night, a sign he knew how rough the results had been for his campaign.
Things only get harder for Sanders next week. Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Arizona, four huge states with a major trove of delegates, are holding primaries. Sanders lost all four of them in 2016, and lost all but Illinois by double digits. Recent polling has found him trailing Biden in all four states. That includes in Florida, which Sanders lost by nearly a two-to-one margin last time around and stands at risk of losing by an even wider margin this time around.
READ: Here are the 5 biggest policy difference between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden
One week from tonight, it could come close to sealing the deal, Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), a Biden supporter, texted VICE News Tuesday night.
As this primary season has shown, things can change very fast in politics two weeks ago Sanders still looked like the clear favorite to win the primary. He and Biden will debate on Sunday, a potential moment to shake things up once again. But his chances of a major change are fading.
Its unclear what Sanders will do next. He decided to stay in the primary race against Clinton long after it was clear he couldnt catch her in the delegate fight, and has signaled hes in this race for the long haul.
But even if he stays in the primary, its unclear whether how much that will matter going forward.
Cover: A box full of Democratic presidential candidate Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ merchandise is pictures as vendors pack to leave Huntington Center in Cleveland, Ohio after the rally was canceled for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) concerns on March 10, 2020. (Photo: MEGAN JELINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
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