Mike Bloomberg is ending his presidential campaign after spending more than $500 million in his bid for the Democratic nomination and accumulating little support along the way.
In a statement, Bloomberg threw his support behind Joe Biden.
“I’ve always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it,” Bloomberg said. “After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden.”
The decision to get out of the Democratic presidential primary comes a day after Bloomberg’s big bet — winning a mass of delegates on Super Tuesday — failed. His only win was in American Samoa.
“I’m a believer in using data to inform decisions,” Bloomberg said in his statement. “After yesterday’s results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible — and a viable path to the nomination no longer exists.”
Bloomberg has previously pledged to continue paying his thousands of campaign staffers through November so they could work for whoever wins the 2020 Democratic nomination. In his statement Wednesday he seemed to solidify that pledge, writing that he “will work to make [Biden] the next President of the United States.”
Along with Bloomberg’s endorsement, Biden can expect more to come his way with the moderate lane for the Democratic bid his alone.
President Trump reacted to the Bloomberg news with his typical grace and magnanimity, tweeting that he could have told his fellow New York City billionaire “long ago that he didn’t have what it takes.”
