March 26, 2020: Bernie Sanders spoke on the Senate floor against removing an additional $600 in unemployment payments from the coronavirus relief package. Joe Biden announced a newsletter and podcast.
“June 2 had been an afterthought on the Democratic primary calendar. Ever since Joseph R. Biden Jr. seized the mantle of front-runner, voters in New Jersey and a few other states scheduled to vote that day assumed the Democratic horse race would be over before their primaries rolled around.
But with numerous states pushing back voting to June 2 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the date has gained sudden prominence. It now confers a huge bounty of delegates, second only to Super Tuesday in early March, with Indiana, Pennsylvania and others moving to hold their primaries on the first Tuesday in June.
Although Mr. Biden has built an all but insurmountable lead, June 2 — which is a long 10 weeks away — will be his first chance to clinch the presidential nomination. Only then would the former vice president have a definitive reason to press for the withdrawal of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has shown no inclination to leave a race that feels frozen in place.”
– Trip Gabriel, The New York Times
Democrats
Joe Bidenannounced Wednesday he would launch a podcast, which he described as “a program to share some more of [his] ideas and plans and to bring on some experts and people [he’s] worked with in the White House.” He also launched a newsletter.
Bernie Sandersspoke on the Senate floor against a proposal to remove a provision from the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package that would provide an additional $600 a week in unemployment payments for four months to workers who were laid off. The proposal to remove the provision was defeated, and the bill passed the chamber 96-0.
Republicans
Donald Trumptweeted, “The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success.” He also said of the coronavirus relief bill, “The Democrats have treated us fairly, and I really believe we‘ve had a very good back-and-forth and I say that with respect to [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer.”
