The oldest presidential Democrat in the 2020 presidential election, Bernie Sanders, had to suspend his campaign Wednesday after surgery due to a blocked artery, the first major health problem in a race so far dominated by septuagenarians.
While he was campaigning in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 78-year-old Vermont senator experienced "chest discomfort," his campaign team said.
"Medical examinations found him a blocked artery and we managed to ask him two stents (vascular expanders, Ed)," she said, adding that the senator was canceling all his campaign events "until further notice ".
A few hours later, the energetic seventy-year-old has resurfaced on Twitter, showing that he would not be slaughtered by this mishap and that he would use it even in support of his campaign themes.
" I feel good. I am lucky to be well cared for and have great doctors and nurses to help me recover, "he tweeted. "None of us can predict when he will face a medical emergency. And no one should be afraid of being ruined in such a case. Social security for all! "
Bernie Sanders, who claims socialist etiquette and pleads for state-sponsored social security, has not said anything about his possible date of return to business.
It is unclear whether Sanders, who has represented Vermont in Congress since 1991, will participate in the televised debate that will bring together 12 Democratic candidates on October 15, at an Ohio university.
In this long-running battle that is just beginning - the first primaries will be held in February - Bernie Sanders, unhappy rival of Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, is a heavyweight.
He has remained in the leading pack so far, alongside two other septuagenarians, former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, 70.
The latter, which displays positions close to those of Mr. Sanders even if it is said to be resolutely capitalist, has nevertheless delighted the second place to Mr. Sanders in several polls in recent weeks.
" A fighter "
Bernie Sanders is the first candidate to suspend his campaign for health reasons.
He who was the first to argue loudly for taxing the rich or free universities - ideas now embraced by several Democratic candidates - had been recently hoarse. He had canceled in September some public appearances to "rest his voice".
In March, the Brooklyn-born senator also appeared on the front with a plaster band, after banging against the door of a shower. The incident had earned him seven stitches, but he was away in the field immediately.
Several of his rivals - from Joe Biden to Pete Buttigieg, the youngest of the race at age 37, who often speaks of the need to renew generations in power - immediately wished the senator a speedy recovery.
"If there's one thing I know about him, it's that he's a fighter and I can not wait to see him in the field again soon," tweeted California Senator Kamala Harris, 54, far behind the candidate in the polls.
"Everyone who knows Bernie knows he is a force. We are sure he will recover fully and quickly, and look forward to seeing him in the field, "Biden also tweeted.
"A lot of people do not understand how crazy the campaigns on the ground are - for the candidates and the organizers," tweeted the young Democratic star of the Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had worked for the Sanders campaign. in 2016.
Although the Vermont senator is quickly resuming his campaign, this incident highlights the advanced age of the best-placed candidates in this race, even as 73-year-old Donald Trump appears in top form.
Until now, it was Joe Biden whose age raised the most doubts. During the last debate in mid-September, he had confusedly urged the Americans to "always have their record player turned on at night".
Donald Trump, who has been attacking the Democrats on Twitter ever since they began impeachment proceedings against him, has not reacted to the misadventures of Bernie Sanders.
In the fall of 2016, he made fun of Hillary Clinton, two years younger, after she suddenly left a ceremony for the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Her doctor said soon after that she had pneumonia.