Sanders says beating Biden will be ‘a very steep road’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Friday that defeating former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary is going to be “a very steep road.”

The Vermont senator added that the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a curveball at a campaign that was already struggling to catch up after a series of devastating primary losses this month left Sanders more than 300 pledged delegates behind Biden.

“Where do we go from here with the elections that are being delayed, where we can’t go out and hold rallies or knock on doors? That’s what we’re looking at right now,” Sanders said in an interview on NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

Sanders conceded that “it’s going to be a very steep road” to beating Biden, but didn’t appear to show signs of letting up any time soon. Though he has begun adding staff in New York, he hasn’t run ads in any upcoming states since losing the March 17 round of primaries.

Sanders said he’s looking forward to debating Biden again in April, but it’s not clear whether there will be another debate.

“I think the American people, especially in this unprecedented moment in American history, want to hear the ideas that will lead us away from where we are right now,” Sanders told NPR. “These are enormously important issues and we need serious debates over them.”

Sanders had been in Washington recently as the Senate worked on the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package, further hampering his ability to campaign. President Trump’s impeachment trial in January and early February also kept him off the campaign trail.

He noted Friday that his policy stances are relatively well represented in the rescue package, which was passed unanimously in the Senate earlier this week. 

“People might not have thought that the United States Congress, the Republican president, the Republican Senate would do what they did,” Sanders said. “There’s a reason for that. And that is that millions of people are now demanding that we have a government that works for all. What role should the campaign play in continuing that fight to make sure that health care becomes a human right, not a privilege, that we raise the minimum wage to a living wage, et cetera, et cetera.”