Super Tuesday is finally upon us, with voting taking place in 14 states across America on who should be the Democratic contender to take on Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.
The Democratic field has finally thinned out, with Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Tom Steyer dropping out this week, leaving front-runners Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden to duke it out and Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg fighting for survival. Warren blasted Biden as a "Washington insider" and suggested she would stay in the race until the Democratic National Convention, while Sanders told reporters he felt his campaign had the "energy" and "excitement" needed to beat Trump.
The former vice president meanwhile received a slew of last minute endorsements on Monday from Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke and former Senate majority leader Harry Reid as the party’s moderate wing comes together to try to block a Sanders landslide in key states like California and Texas. Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton meanwhile stood by comments calling Sanders' campaign "just bologna" on Tuesday, as the Vermont senator said the establishment was "nervous" about his rising candidacy.
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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.
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?"
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.”
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.
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.
Tennessee Democrats sue over Super Tuesday voting hours after deadly tornadoes
The suit is seeking to extend polls for another three hoursGabbard 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.
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.
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.
Elizabeth Warren issues stinging attack against Joe Biden
Speaking at a rally in Los Angeles, California a night before voters in the state took part in Super Tuesday, the Massachusetts senator railed against the former vice president, saying she respects “his years of service” before adding: “But no matter how many Washington insiders tell you to support him, nominating their fellow Washington insider will not meet this moment."
The senator said on Monday night: “Nominating a man who says we do not need any fundamental change in this country will not meet this moment. Nominating someone who wants to restore the world before Donald Trump, when the status quo has been leaving more and more people behind for decades, is a big risk for our party and our country.”
Hillary Clinton continues to rail against Bernie Sanders
As voters flock to the polls in 14 states across the country, former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said she stands by previous comments in which she called Sanders’ campaign “just bologna”.
“I think we ought to be more understanding and realistic on what it takes to get change in this big, complicated, pluralistic democracy of ours”, Ms Clinton said on Good Morning America.
