Former Vice President (and likely Democratic presidential nominee) Joe Biden won New Jersey’s Democratic primary as he continues securing his formal nomination scheduled to take place at the party’s convention in August.
At press time Biden led voting percentages with (CNN) 85.3/(Politico) 86.2/(AP) 86.6 percent of the Garden State’s vote leaving Sen. Bernie Sanders gaining (CNN) 13.7/(Politico) 13.5/(AP) 13 percent of the vote. AP’s numbers were based upon 57 percent of votes cast reported. Counting is still ongoing. In terms of numbers, Biden has already grabbed the Democratic nomination, therefore his win in New Jersey can be considered somewhat emblematic.
Sanders dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in April, leaving Biden to head up the remaining contests. Biden also agreed to let Sanders keep a number of delegates affording him the opportunity to have an influence on party positions as well as being able to increase voter turnout. Unlike all other Democratic candidates who had already bowed out of the race, Sanders endorsed Biden after dropping out in April.
New Jersey, which awards 126 pledged delegates, held its primaries on Tuesday, July 7. The state was originally scheduled to hold its contests on June 2, but like many other states decided to postpone due to health concerns of the pandemic.
After snagging the majority of delegates in New Jersey, Biden went on to win Louisiana’s Democratic primary on Saturday, July 11, further symbolizing his presumed presidential nomination scheduled to be official at the Democratic convention next month.
Biden took the lead with 82.2 percent of the vote, with Sanders trailing in second with 5.3 percent of the vote, with 1 percent of precincts reporting. The Pelican State’s primaries were originally scheduled to be held on April 4 but were postponed on two different occasions. June 20 was initially the new date for the state’s contest but ended up being postponed for a second time as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Since Biden became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Donald Trump has executed a number of attacks on the character of his opponent Joe Biden. The New York Times said Trump hijacked a press conference turning it into an attack on Joe Biden.
“On Tuesday evening, Trump turned a White House Rose Garden news conference about China’s crackdown on Hong Kong into a campaign-style screed against Biden, his Democratic rival,” said The New York Times.
Most recently Trump stated that a Biden presidency would result in a spree of various crimes and mayhem.
“Over the course of 72 hours, President Trump’s campaign accused Joseph R. Biden Jr. of plagiarism,” The New York Times said. “Mr. Trump warned that a Biden presidency would lead to a surge of crime in the streets. He tried to link his opponent to socialism and to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leader of the Democratic left. And he said that Mr. Biden would eliminate the suburbs — and windows.”