Why AP isn’t using ‘presumptive nominee’ to describe Trump, Biden

By ROBERT YOON
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — While President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are the overwhelming favorites to win their parties’ nomination for a second term, they’re not the “presumptive nominees” just yet. Though you may hear the term more frequently in the coming days, The Associated Press only uses the designation once a candidate has captured the number of delegates needed to win a majority vote at the national party conventions this summer. That point won’t come until after more states have voted. While Biden and Trump won many contests on Super Tuesday, the earliest Trump can clinch the nomination is March 12; for Biden, it’s March 19.