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As it happenedended

Super Tuesday: Bloomberg endorses Biden in bid 'to defeat Trump' as Sanders launches fresh attack on frontrunner

Follow the latest coverage, as it happened

Clark Mindock
New York
,Chris Riotta,Alex Woodward,Joe Sommerlad
Wednesday 04 March 2020 15:05 EST
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Super Tuesday: Jo Biden talks about campaign turn-around

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Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to mock Michael Bloomberg after he dropped out of the Democratic 2020 race and to sow division among progressive candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren following the party’s Super Tuesday primaries, accusing the latter of splitting the vote and damaging her friend and rival’s chances in key regions.

Former US vice president Joe Biden was the big winner as 14 states went to the polls yesterday, completing the comeback he began at last weekend’s South Carolina primary by claiming at least nine key states including Texas, with Maine also projected to be confirmed in his favour.

Sanders did take home the top prize, the delegate-rich state of California, but otherwise secured only three others, an outcome that saw the moderate wing of the party come together emphatically to back Biden.

In the fallout of those contests, Mr Bloomberg held a rally in New York City where he announced he was endorsing Mr Biden.

Mr Sanders, meanwhile, opened fresh lines of attack on Mr Biden as the two gear up for a two-man race going forward.

And, Ms Warren's team suggested she is considering her path forward — with many believing that means she plans on dropping out of the race imminently.

Follow live updates

Joe Biden soars in new national poll

The former vice president now leads with 36 percent support nationally after multiple moderates candidates dropped out and endorsed his bid for the White House shortly after. 

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has 28 percent of support according to the Morning Consult poll, released the same day voters in 14 states participated in Super Tuesday. The Vermont senator’s support has seen little change in recent days, according to the poll. 

Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire presidential hopeful and latest addition to enter the race, trails in third place with 19 percent, while Elizabeth Warren has 14 percent. 

Chris Riotta3 March 2020 20:20

Joe Biden's camp says 'no thanks' to an endorsement from James Comey

Andrew Bates, director of rapid response for Joe Biden's presidential campaign, mocked an endorsement from the former FBI chief on Twitter after Comey said he was voting for the former vice president:

Chris Riotta3 March 2020 20:45

Trump lambasts the Democratic Party, reignites claims of election rigging

Donald Trump has spent a large part of Super Tuesday claiming the Democratic Party was seeking to ensure Bernie Sanders wouldn't receive the nomination by endorsing Joe Biden, saying earlier at the White House: "The Democrat establishment is trying to take it away from Bernie Sanders."

Chris Riotta3 March 2020 21:05

Bernie Sanders leads in donations from women in Super Tuesday states

While the majority of donors for Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden are women, Bernie Sanders has received more contributions - and more money - from female donors than his Democratic opponents in the race for the White House, according to new data from Rutgers.

Chris Riotta3 March 2020 21:25

Biden says 'hopes are high' ahead of first Super Tuesday results

Joe Biden said his hopes were high during a campaign stop in California, just hours away from the first Super Tuesday results.

“My hopes are high... I think we’ll do well on Super Tuesday," he said, according to Politico. "I think we’ll qualify here, we’ll beat the threshold.”

Asked about his chances while he worked the crowd at an Oakland diner, the former vice president said he was “going to do fine.”

“I feel good,” he added. 

Biden has climbed in the polls in recent days, closing the gap on Bernie Sanders in California.

Richard Hall3 March 2020 22:25

Gabbard calls Warren ‘fake indigenous woman’ 

Tulsi Gabbard called Elizabeth Warren a “fake indigenous woman of color” after a guest on FOX News mistakenly referred to Warren as the only woman left in the Democratic primary race. 

The tweet came in response to a segment in which former White House deputy chief of staff and Republican strategist Karl Rove questioned whether Warren would benefit from the departure of Amy Klobuchar from the race. 

Gabbard is currently the worst-performing candidate still in the race, polling between 1-3 percent.

Richard Hall3 March 2020 22:49

Tennessee extends voting after tornado hits polling stations 

A number of polling stations in Tennessee will remain open for at least an extra hour after a tornado damaged more than a dozen voting places. 

The extreme weather, which killed at least 22 people and left a path of destruction, caused a number of polling stations to open late on Super Tuesday, which led to long lines elsewhere and meant some people were turned away without voting. 

The Tennessee Democratic Party sued the Davidson County elections commission and the Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office, requesting that polling stations remain open until 10 pm central time.

A judge later ruled that several polling places would remain open an extra hour. 

Richard Hall3 March 2020 22:59

Mystery dark money group spends almost $1m on anti-Bernie Sanders ads across 10 states

Almost $1m has been spent on political adverts attacking Bernie Sanders by a group not legally required to reveal its donors, it has been reported.

Lucy Anna Gray3 March 2020 23:16

Sanders campaign says it will not push Warren to drop out

Bernie Sanders’ campaign said today it would not pressure progressive rival Elizabeth Warren to drop out of the Democratic primary race.

Campaign manager Faiz Shakir told CNN that there had been no attempts to convince the Massachusetts senator to withdraw in order to strengthen Sanders’ bid, as the Democratic Party’s centrist candidates have done for Joe Biden in recent days.

“She has been campaigning very hard, has raised a lot of money and has earned a lot of votes,” Shakir said. “She should be given the time and space to decide for herself about the future of her campaign.”

Richard Hall3 March 2020 23:27

Report: Bloomberg urged to drop out, but mayor says 'only way' to win is at contested convention

Following reports that his own campaign wanted him to drop out and endorse Joe Biden, throwing the weight of his seemingly infinite pool of money into the nominee, Michael Bloomberg says no, he's not doing that.

Vanity Fair quoted four sources privy to internal Bloomberg campaign conversations urging the billionaire to end his campaign and back Biden in an effort to edge Bernie Sanders out of the race.

But the former New York mayor told reporters in Miami that "the only way" he believes he can win is at a contested Democratic convention, in which no candidate has a clear majority of delegate votes to earn the nomination.

One source told Vanity Fair that Bloomberg is "looking at the numbers thinking, 'I'll be damned if I walk away before a single vote is cast for me.''"

Bloomberg, asked whether he believes he's taking votes away from Biden by remaining in the race, said: "Joe's taking votes away from me. Have you asked Joe when he's going to drop out?"

Alex Woodward3 March 2020 23:48

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