After a stunning comeback for former Vice President Joe Biden, pundits tried to explain the events that culminated in his victories on Super Tuesday.
On Tuesday night, CNN’s Van Jones speculated that Biden emerged as the moderate alternative to Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), and won across the country, because of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (Mass.) attacks on former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“I think it’s not a mystery what happened — why Joe Biden suddenly emerged,” Jones said, adding, “Elizabeth Warren destroyed Bloomberg — we haven’t said her name.”
“Elizabeth Warren, not Joe Biden, destroyed Bloomberg and knocked that out,” he added. “He should thank her.”
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CNN's Van Jones reacts to Joe Biden's projected early victories: "I think what's going on is this party is trying to find its way forward. I think it's not a mystery what happened — why Joe Biden suddenly emerged. It wasn't about Joe Biden" #CNNelection https://t.co/WphiPbDdXs pic.twitter.com/0lVABpnX4W
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 4, 2020
Bloomberg had cast himself as a moderate alternative to Sanders in the Democratic primary race. After Biden failed to finish within the top three spots in the first contests, Bloomberg’s poll numbers rose as Democrats began to look to him as a viable alternative.
But, in his first debate performance of the campaign, Warren blasted Bloomberg for comments he reportedly made about women and called on him to release former employees from non-disclosure agreements.
After the debate, which was panned as a “disaster” for the former mayor, Democrats raised questions about Bloomberg’s viability as a candidate.
Bloomberg had been banking on a risky strategy of skipping the first four primary contests to focus on states that held primaries on Super Tuesday to launch his campaign.
However, after spending roughly half a billion dollars on the campaign, Bloomberg walked away, winning only the American Somoa caucuses and was below the 15% threshold needed to win delegates in several states.
Biden’s victory on Tuesday has credited, in part, to the rapid consolidation of the moderate field behind him.
