On Fox News’ coverage of Super Tuesday primaries, Federalist Senior Editor Mollie Hemingway said the Democratic establishment’s recent embrace of former Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t mean he’ll sail directly to the nomination this summer.
“Bernie Sanders winning the most votes in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada didn’t make him the presumptive nominee, and Joe Biden, having really good success with this southern strategy, doesn’t make him the presumptive nominee,” Hemingway said.
Biden swept to victory in a slew of Super Tuesday contests, including Minnesota, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Earlier this week, other former Democratic candidates endorsed Biden, including former Rep. Robert Francis O’Rourke, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
“It is interesting that we saw in recent days the establishment deciding they were going to coalesce behind Joe Biden — a guy who really did have problems which resulted in fourth- or fifth-place finishes elsewhere,” Hemingway said.
Hemingway noted that some believe Democrats have “learned a lesson” from the Republican primary in 2016, but it’s unclear why Democrats wouldn’t want to make the Republicans’ election-winning and party-unifying “mistake.”
“It’s worth remembering what happened to Republicans in 2016. They won the presidential election,” she said. “Yes, it was very difficult to bridge between the establishment and the voting population, and that resulted in much-needed discussions. … It ended up making a much healthier, stronger party.”
