参议员伯尼·桑德斯（Bernie Sanders）誓言如果前副总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden）最终派出许多认捐的代表参加7月的民主党代表大会，将退出总统大选。
桑德斯（Sanders）在周三晚上在MSNBC的瑞秋·马多秀（Rachel Maddow Show）上露面时发表了上述言论。这位参议员在2016年与前国务卿希拉里·克林顿（Hillary Clinton）进行竞争，尽管代表人数减少了，但他表示，选举周期之后的规则变更使这次情况有所不同。如果在本赛季初他的代表人数少于拜登，他计划退出比赛，坚持认为由超级代表来决定提名将是一个错误。
桑德斯说：“如果拜登参加大会，或者在程序结束时，（并且）获得比我更多的选票，那么他就是赢家。”在确认他将承认领先者是多数还是多数之前，桑德斯说。
在2016年初选结束时，民主党会议规则允许超级代表在第一次投票中进行投票，而2020年将不再是这种情况。取而代之的是，在至少1,991名代表中占多数的候选人将自动在第一次投票中获胜。但是，如果候选人只有多票，则超级代表有可能决定第二轮投票。
桑德斯说：“我认为这对民主党来说将是一场真正的灾难。” “人们会说'得票最多的人没有被选中。' 这不是一个好主意。”
桑德斯告诉主持人雷切尔·马多（Rachel Maddow），尽管在超级星期二的几场比赛中表现不佳，他的竞选还是有“真正的胜利之路”，人们期望他在拜登周末突然转机之前会赢得其中一些胜利。民意调查显示，桑德斯在缅因州和明尼苏达州将表现出色。人们还希望桑德斯在她的家乡马萨诸塞州与参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦并驾齐驱。
在最初领导民意调查数月之后，当佛蒙特州参议员于2月22日在内华达州核心小组取得压倒性胜利时，拜登的竞选活动陷入了混乱，似乎已死在水中。但是，南卡罗来纳州的一项重大胜利很快就被竞争对手击败，前者印第安纳州南本德市市长皮特·布蒂吉格（Pete Buttigieg）和明尼苏达州参议员艾米·克洛布查尔（Amy Klobuchar）退出竞争并表示支持，这有助于前副总统重回正轨。
尽管最后的选票还没有在周三晚上完成，桑德斯告诉马多说，加利福尼亚州的代表人数众多，这意味着他由于赢得了该州，总体上可以领先“一点点”。不管最终人数多少，尽管拜登无疑具有势头，但预计两位候选人都不会在代表中大领先。
参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦（Elizabeth Warren）也留在竞选中，但据说正在考虑她是否会继续。桑德斯说，他星期三与沃伦交谈，她“应该花时间和空间”做出决定。麦道问桑德斯，如果她确实辍学，他是否会把她当作跑步伴侣。
桑德斯说：“现在谈论这还为时过早，但是我当然对沃伦参议员有很多尊重，并且想坐下来与她谈谈她在我们的政府中可以扮演什么样的角色。”
桑德斯确实排除了一个可能的情况，那就是尽管政策上存在重大分歧，但拜登还是有可能与拜登（Biden）打成一片“统一票”。
桑德斯说：“一个老白人可能对许多人来说太多了。” “我认为我们需要比这更多的多样性。”
Senator Bernie Sanders vowed to drop out of the presidential race if former Vice President Joe Biden ends up with a plurality of pledged delegates heading into the Democratic convention in July.
Sanders made the remarks during an appearance on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show Wednesday night. The senator stayed in the race against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 despite having fewer delegates but said that a rules change after that election cycle makes the situation different this time. If he is left with fewer delegates than Biden at the end of this primary season, he plans to bow out of the race, insisting that using superdelegates to decide the nomination would be a mistake.
"If Biden walks into the convention, or at the end of the process, [and] has more votes than me, he's the winner," said Sanders, before confirming he would concede whether the lead was a majority or a plurality.
At the end of the 2016 primaries, Democratic convention rules allowed superdelegates to vote on the first ballot, which is no longer the case in 2020. Instead, a candidate who has a majority of at least 1,991 delegates would automatically win on the first ballot. However, if a candidate only had a plurality of votes, a second ballot could potentially be decided by superdelegates.
"I think it would be a real, real disaster for the Democratic party," said Sanders. "People would say 'the person who won the most votes didn't get selected.' Not a good idea."
Sanders told host Rachel Maddow that his campaign had a "real path towards victory" despite significantly underperforming in several Super Tuesday contests, some of which he had been expected to win before Biden's abrupt turnaround over the weekend. Polls indicated that Sanders would do well in Maine and Minnesota. Sanders was also expected to be neck-to-neck with Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her home state of Massachusetts.
After initially leading in polls for many months, Biden's campaign sputtered and seemed dead in the water by the time the Vermont senator achieved a landslide victory in the Nevada caucus on February 22. However, a big win in South Carolina quickly followed by rivals, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, dropping out of contention and endorsing him helped the former vice president get back on track.
Although the final tally of votes had not been completed by Wednesday night, Sanders told Maddow that the massive delegate total in California meant he could end up "a little bit" ahead overall due to winning the state. Regardless of the final number, neither candidate is expected to end up with a large lead in delegates, although Biden certainly has the momentum.
Senator Elizabeth Warren also remains in the race but is said to be considering whether she would continue. Sanders said he spoke with Warren Wednesday and that she "deserves the time and the space" to make her decision. Maddow asked Sanders if he would consider her as a running mate if she does drop out.
"It's too early to talk about that, but certainly I have a lot of respect for Senator Warren and would like to sit down and talk to her about what kind of role she can play in our administration," said Sanders.
One scenario that Sanders did rule out was the possibility of running on a "unity ticket" with Biden, who he called "a friend" despite significant policy differences.
"One old white guy is probably one too many for some," Sanders said. "I think we need a little bit more diversity than that."
