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“Last night obviously was not a good night for our campaign from a delegate point of view,” Sanders said, noting his losses in the Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho primaries. But he then pointed to his victory in North Dakota and reminded viewers of his lead in Washington state.
After acknowledging the unfavorable delegate math, Sanders dug deeper into the numbers and warned that Biden’s failure so far to win over young voters could be damaging in November and beyond.
“Today I say to the Democratic establishment, in order to win in the future, you need to win the voters who represent the future of our country and you must speak to the issues of concern to them,” Sanders said, before conceding that he was doing just as poorly with older voters.
Sanders, in unusually frank and analytical terms, also discussed his failure so far to convince Democrats he would stand the best chance of defeating President Donald Trump in November.
“While our campaign has won the ideological debate, we are losing the debate over electability. I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoke to and said, and I quote, ‘I like what your campaign stands for, I agree with what your campaign stands for, but I’m going to vote for Joe Biden because I think Joe is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump,'” Sanders said. “We have heard that statement all over this country. Needless to say, I strongly disagree with that assertion, but that is what millions of Democrats and independents today believe.”
In standing across from Biden on the debate stage, Sanders argued, he would seek to dash those concerns and, potentially, the trajectory of the race. His plan: to pepper “my friend Joe Biden” with a series of questions over his commitment to addressing the issues that are central to Sanders’ campaign.
Among them, the Vermont senator said, was a challenge to Biden on Sanders’ signature issue: health care.
“Joe, what are you going to end the absurdity of the United States of America being the only major country on earth where health care is not a human right?” Sanders said, previewing his line of attack. “Are you really going to veto a ‘Medicare for All’ bill if it is passed in Congress?”
Sanders’ “questions” also touched on issues around medical debt, climate change and economic inequality.
A Sanders aide told CNN late Tuesday night that the Vermont senator planned to stay in the race at least through Sunday’s debate in Arizona, but as the hours passed and Sanders’ team remained publicly silent, speculation began to swirl that he would drop out of the race on Wednesday afternoon.
By fighting on, Sanders will get the face-off with Biden that he has long desired. But it comes now with his campaign on the ropes following Biden’s remarkable revival, which began with a sweeping victory in South Carolina and built over the subsequent 10 days as the moderate party leaders and Democratic voters coalesced behind his campaign.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed to this story.
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