The chest pains occurred on Tuesday this week when Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was attending a campaign event. Afterward, he was rushed to the hospital and it was found that the Senator had needed stents inserted to address a blockage in an artery. The announcement came in the wake of canceled campaign events until further notice as Sanders recovers.
According to this campaign, the Senator is in good spirits and currently recovering comfortably after a successful surgery:
“Sen. Sanders is conversing and in good spirits. He will be resting up over the next few days," senior adviser Jeff Weaver said in a statement. "We are canceling his events and appearances until further notice, and we will continue to provide appropriate updates.”Bernie was just starting a scheduled blitz of Iowa campaign events where he would make many scheduled appearances and spend time with voters. In the wake of the surgery, however, all Bernie's events have been canceled until further notice, and his campaign confirmed that an existing ad buy in the Hawkeye State was also shelved.
ABC News offers some more background on the events leading up to Bernie's hospitalization and what transpired over the past 72 hours:
Sanders' last public appearance was at the Las Vegas shooting memorial on Tuesday night. Earlier this week, he was in New Hampshire where he held seven back-to-back events over the course of two days.He won't make the gun control events scheduled for today or later this week.On Wednesday, Sanders is currently on a campaign swing through Nevada, hosting a town hall on Medicare for All and social security in Las Vegas ahead of his appearance at the Giffords and March for Our Lives’ Presidential Gun Safety Forum on Wednesday.
His campaign has said he'll be sidelined for "days" during the recovery process, but it goes without saying that at Bernie's age, doctors will want to be very careful before letting him return to the grueling and tiresome slog of a presidential campaign. The result of late nights and constant travel is hard on every candidate, though especially for someone recovering from heart surgery.
According to CNBC, the question of Bernie's health came up in 2016, though his doctor issued a report stating the Vermont Senator was in "good health":
The senator had committed to releasing his medical records before the primary voting contests started. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Sanders released a letter from his doctor saying the senator was in good health and did not have a history of heart disease.Support has begun rolling in from Bernie's Democratic challengers wishing him a full and speedy recovery to get back out on the campaign trail:
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1179417780556312576
- JoeBiden
https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1179414641803440131
- ewarren
https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1179408986065571840
- KamalaHarris
https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/status/1179409178185682945
- CoryBooker
https://twitter.com/PeteButtigieg/status/1179413540970606592
- PeteButtigieg
Bernie just announced some major fundraising numbers on Tuesday, and he still remains in top contention for the 2020 Democratic nomination despite some softening poll numbers in recent months.
There is no official word on when Sanders can return to the trail, though his campaign seems optimistic that it may likely be by the time for the next Democratic debate on Oct. 15. So long as his recovery goes as planned, it seems that Bernie could be back for the debate.
We wish the Senator well and hope he recovers soon.