Bloomberg Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Biden
WASHINGTON – Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden.
“I’ve had the chance to work with Joe on those issues over the years, and Joe has fought for working people his whole life,” Bloomberg said. “Today I am glad to endorse him –- and I will work to make him the next President of the United States.”
Bloomberg’s announcement came after an embarrassing showing on Super Tuesday in which he won just one U.S. territory, American Samoa.
The billionaire, who spent a reported $500 million of his own fortune to run for president, said his continued presence in the race would make it harder for the party to defeat President Donald Trump in November.
Though he’s leaving the race as a candidate, Bloomberg said he would continue to keep spending until Trump is sent packing.
Over the course of a 101-day campaign, Bloomberg built a staff of 2,400 people in 43 states. However, that wasn’t enough to overcome one bad and one slightly better debate performance.
Bloomberg bypassed the first four electoral contests of 2020 in the belief that a big Super Tuesday showing would make his candidacy virtually unstoppable. In the end he came away with just a handful of delegates.
Everything changed for Biden, Bloomberg and the rest of the Democratic presidential field after House Majority Whip James Clyburn endorsed the former vice president last Wednesday.
That endorsement sealed Biden’s sweeping victory in the South Carolina primary, a win that prompted two other Democrats, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg to drop out the race and endorse Biden as the moderate alternative to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.