Sen. Bernie Sanders will be returning to Burlington soon to recover from heart surgery and plans to take part in the Oct. 15 Democratic presidential debate, according to his campaign.
Sanders is still at an undisclosed Las Vegas hospital after he experienced “chest discomfort” Tuesday evening and was found to have a blockage in an artery. The senator, who is 78, had two stents — small tubes that allow blood to flow normally to and from the heart — successfully inserted, the campaign said Wednesday.
The campaign has not yet disclosed whether or not Sanders experienced a heart attack. A Wall Street Journal article quoted a spokesperson saying Wednesday that more tests would be needed before that determination was made.
Jane Sanders said in a statement Thursday that doctors were “pleased with his progress” and that Sanders had spent Wednesday talking with his staff about policy proposals and the next steps for the campaign.
“We expect Bernie will be discharged and on a plane back to Burlington before the end of the weekend,” Jane Sanders said. “He’ll take a few days to rest, but he’s ready to get back out there and is looking forward to the October debate.”
The Sanders campaign has suspended campaign events until further notice and indefinitely postponed its $1.3 million television ad buy, which it had announced Tuesday, and was supposed to begin hitting the airwaves in Iowa on Thursday. This was Sanders’ first television advertisement of the election cycle.
While the Vermont senator has remained in hospital, his campaign has used his health as a rallying cry for the importance of his signature legislation, Medicare for All.
Wednesday afternoon, David Sirota, Sanders’ speech writer, wrote in the campaign’s newsletter that stents cost up to six times more in the U.S. than in other industrialized countries with government-sponsored health care systems.
Later in the day, Sanders took to Twitter, telling his supporters that he is “fortunate to have good health care and great doctors and nurses helping me to recover.” “None of us know when a medical emergency might affect us,” he wrote. “And no one should fear going bankrupt if it occurs. Medicare for All!”
Thanks for all the well wishes. I’m feeling good. I’m fortunate to have good health care and great doctors and nurses helping me to recover.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 2, 2019
None of us know when a medical emergency might affect us. And no one should fear going bankrupt if it occurs. Medicare for All!
Sanders, who if elected would be 83 at the end of his first term, had committed to releasing a record of his medical history in mid September, joining former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, and Warren, 70, in doing so.
Before the health scare, the Sanders campaign had just announced a fundraising haul of $25 million during the last three months, which came as a much needed boost after he had stagnated in national and statewide polls.
