A senior campaign adviser for the Sanders campaign said Wednesday that Vice President Joe Biden’s performance on Super Tuesday was due to the Democratic establishment rallying behind him.
“The establishment consolidated around one person,” Chuck Rocha told Hill.TV. He said Biden got momentum from former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) dropping their White House bids shortly before Super Tuesday.
“Those voters who were with Pete, those voters who were with Amy…there’s no way to gauge that kind of consolidation within 48 hours of an election,” Rocha added.
Buttigieg and Klobuchar both endorsed Biden before the polls opened on Tuesday, giving him a much-needed boost with moderate voters.
Coming off a decisive victory in Saturday’s South Carolina primary, Biden carried that momentum into Super Tuesday, winning the majority of the 14 state contests and notching a few upsets in states like Massachusetts and Minnesota.
Biden was leading Sanders in the delegate count as of 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Rocha said that with Super Tuesday data in hand, the Sanders campaign will be able to respond accordingly.
Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington state all have their primaries on Tuesday.
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