Sen. Bernie Sanders’s campaign is canceling a Wednesday campaign rally in Iowa because the senator must be in Washington for President Trump’s impeachment trial.
The Vermont independent is running in the Democratic presidential primary and announced his first cancellation over the start of the Senate impeachment trial. Trump’s trial may interfere with many more events for Sanders, as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
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“Sen. Sanders will not be able to attend tomorrow’s rally due to the impeachment schedule in the U.S. Senate,” Sanders’s campaign said in a statement on Tuesday. “However, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will host campaign events in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Ames on Friday and Saturday.”
While Sanders is off the campaign trail, he will be forced to rely on supporters such as Ocasio-Cortez to campaign and spread his message to voters on the ground in Iowa, where he was originally planning to travel to via private jet, and other early voting states.
Sanders must plan to spend a significant amount of time in Washington while Trump’s impeachment trial proceeds. Estimates for the time of the trial have run from one or two weeks up to two months or longer, depending on whether the Senate chooses to call witnesses.
Candidates such as former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg are expected to benefit in the Democratic presidential primary as some of their toughest competitors remain sidelined throughout the impeachment trial.
