Joe Biden

Former Vice President Joe Biden says he finds it "hard to envision" an in-person Democratic National Convention taking place in July as planned.

"The fact is, it may have to be different," the leading Democratic presidential candidate said in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday night.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to take place from July 13-16 in Milwaukee. The Republican National Convention is planned for Aug. 24-27 in Charlotte, N.C., and neither party has announced alternative plans.

Joe Biden is a classic retail politician — a man who loves to shake hands, give hugs, take selfies and look voters directly in the eye, one-on-one. But now he can't do any of those things.

Instead, because of the coronavirus outbreak, his campaign is grounded: no rallies, no travel. It's all virtual fundraisers, live-streamed speeches, remote TV interviews, Facebook videos and volunteer Slack channels.

Updated at 11:36 a.m. ET

Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii U.S. representative and Iraq war veteran who has stirred controversy within her own party, is suspending her bid for the White House.

She had been one of only three candidates left in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, despite only garnering two delegates.

Gabbard made the announcement in a video posted Thursday morning, and said, "It's clear that Democratic primary voters have chosen" former Vice President Joe Biden to be the person to take on President Trump in November.

For the third straight primary Tuesday, Joe Biden emerged as the winner.

But the country is in a vastly different state than it was just a few weeks ago, and as a result, the former vice president's victory address on Tuesday night was hardly celebratory.

"Tackling this pandemic is a national emergency akin to fighting a war," the Democratic front-runner said in prepared remarks from his home in Wilmington, Del.

In what have turned out to be the last presidential primary elections in the month of March because of the novel coronavirus, Joe Biden swept all three states Tuesday by big margins and appears well on his way to being the Democratic nominee.

The former vice president won Florida by almost 40 points, Illinois by more than 20 and Arizona by double-digits, too.

It was a remarkable night that adds to Biden's delegate lead that, at this point and because of how Democrats allocate their delegates, looks insurmountable.

Three states are voting Tuesday in the Democratic presidential primary: Arizona, Florida and Illinois. Ohio suspended its primary. Follow NPR's live coverage with updates on the ground, news from the candidates, analysis and results.

Just before the Democratic debate Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out guidelines encouraging Americans not to gather in groups of 50 or more for the next eight weeks.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the 11th Democratic presidential debate, on Sunday, is set to look and sound quite different from the previous 10.

To prevent further transmission of the virus, the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday it will hold the debate in Washington, D.C., with no live audience, instead of its original planned location of Arizona, one of four states voting on Tuesday.

Politics and governing can often collide in the middle of a crisis, especially when both hinge on what message a leader is sending the public. Given that we're in the height of an election, the collision may have been inevitable.

President Trump delivered a primetime televised address about coronavirus and canceled political events, followed by a Rose Garden press conference flanked by public and private sector leaders.

Bernie Sanders is staying in the race for president, but he made it obvious on Wednesday that he sees Joe Biden's clear path to the nomination.

"While our campaign has won the ideological debate, we are losing the debate over electability," Sanders said. The recent underdog added that he disagrees that Biden is the stronger candidate to take on President Trump, "but that is what millions of Democrats and independents today believe."