Bernie bows out

Joe Biden becomes the presumptive Democratic nominee; the US and Italy are likely undercounting coronavirus deaths. Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters. TOP NEWS Bernie Sanders exits the presidential race Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images - On Wednesday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced that he was suspending his second presidential campaign. Once seen as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, his campaign fell on hard times as the field winnowed. [[Vox / Dylan Scott](] - His exit means that former Vice President Joe Biden, who had already secured a near-insurmountable delegate lead in the primary, is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. [[AP / Will Weissert](] - Sanders’s decision also follows Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Wisconsin, though results are not yet available as absentee ballots continue to be received amid pandemic-related delays. Polling suggested that Sanders was likely to lose the state to Biden by double digits. [[FiveThirtyEight](] - Despite ending his bid for the presidency, Sanders argued Wednesday that “Few would deny that over the course of the past five years our movement has won the ideological struggle.” He also pointed out that his campaign won young voters by a significant margin. [[Vox / Cameron Peters](] - Sanders’s candidacy was historic: The self-identified Democratic socialist outperformed any other candidate to run under that banner, and he was also the best-performing Jewish presidential candidate in American history. [[Washington Post / Sean Sullivan and Chelsea Janes](] - Now the general election begins: With Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee, he can shift his focus to President Donald Trump and Election Day on November 3. [[NYT / Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin](] - The Democratic National Convention, however, will have to wait. Party conventions are a rallying moment for the party’s nominee, but coronavirus concerns have delayed the Democratic convention until August — and Biden has even suggested that it might need to be held virtually. [[CNN / Sarah Mucha](] - Biden will have a hard road ahead of him as he works to unify the Democratic Party and bring progressive Sanders supporters into the fold. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias points out that a broad mistrust from the left wing of the party could pose a particular challenge for the former veep. [[Vox / Matthew Yglesias](] - Another major decision coming up for Biden will be the selection of a running mate. A former veep himself, Biden has pledged to select a woman to join him on the Democratic ticket. [[Politico / Natasha Korecki and Marc Caputo](] The US coronavirus death toll is likely greater than officially reported - As of early Wednesday, almost 13,000 people in the US alone have died from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Just shy of 400,000 cases have been reported in America, and it’s expected to get worse. [[Washington Post / Joe Fox, Brittany Renee Mayes, Kevin Schaul, and Leslie Shapiro](] - As dire as that number is, though, it could be an undercount. A lack of testing, an uneven reporting system, and other problems mean that the US death toll from Covid-19 is likely greater than current figures indicate. [[ABC News / Dr. Mark Abdelmalek, Josh Margolin, Aaron Katersky, and Eden David](] - Public health experts say it’s unclear how much of a difference underreporting has made in the official death toll; it’s also not unusual for it to take time to accurately assess disease fatalities. [[NYT / Sarah Kliff and Julie Bosman](] - But the issue isn’t just isolated to the US: In Italy, the spike in cases that overwhelmed the country’s health system means that many casualties of the virus were not tested before they died, and thus not counted in the official coronavirus death toll. [[CBS News](] MISCELLANEOUS Singapore reported a dramatic spike in coronavirus cases Wednesday, raising concerns about a second wave of infections. [[Guardian / Peter Beaumont, Daniel Boffey, and Sam Jones](] - President Donald Trump ousts the inspector general overseeing coronavirus response. [[NPR / Tim Mak](] - The case for universal vote-by-mail. [[Vox / David Roberts](] - What it’s like being on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic in a New York City hospital. [[New Yorker / Dhruv Khullar](] - Nacho the penguin goes on an adventure at the Oregon Zoo. [[Twitter/ Oregon Zoo](] VERBATIM "The beauty I will remember most is the faces of the people we have met from one corner of this nation to the other. The compassion and love and decency I have seen in them makes me so hopeful for our future." [[Sen. Bernie Sanders on the experience of running for president / Vox](] LISTEN TO THIS [Covid-19 isn't an equalizer. It's coming for America's most vulnerable populations.]( Covid-19 isn't an equalizer. It's coming for America's most vulnerable populations. [[Spotify / Sean Rameswaram](] [Read more from Vox](#) [Trump’s coronavirus purge]( [Why Sanders didn’t replicate Trump’s upset primary victory]( [How Schitt’s Creek became one of TV’s most beloved comedies]( [Sanders’s campaign is over, but his legacy is winning]( [How to get groceries when delivery services are slammed]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving all emails from Vox. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved.