March 10, 2020

No Audience at Biden-Sanders Debate Due to Coronavirus

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former Vice President Joe Biden at the Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina on February 25, 2020.Win McNamee/Getty Images

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The Democratic debate on Sunday won’t just feature fewer candidates than before, it will also be without an audience. To limit the spread of the coronavirus, the Democratic National Committee and CNN announced Tuesday that the upcoming debate on Sunday between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden will no longer have a live audience, nor will reporters meet with campaign representatives after the debate in what is referred to as the spin room, nor a designated area for reporters to file stories.

Both Sanders and Biden canceled rallies in Cleveland on Tuesday over growing fears about the coronavirus.

But President Donald Trump seems to be throwing caution to the wind. On Tuesday, his campaign announced it would hold a rally in Milwaukee on March 19.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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