Bloomberg ends campaign, endorses Biden for President

A day after a disappointing performance on Super Tuesday, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he would give up his bid for the White House and endorse Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination.

"Three months ago, I entered the race for President to defeat Donald Trump. Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump – because it is clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult," Bloomberg said in a written statement.

After failing to win any of the 14 states on Super Tuesday, Bloomberg acknowledged that he had no real path forward in the Democratic race, saying 'a viable path to the nomination no longer exists.'

"But I remain clear-eyed about my overriding objective: victory in November. Not for me, but for our country. And so while I will not be the nominee, I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life," Bloomberg added.

In a tweet, Biden thanked Bloomberg for his support.

"This race is bigger than candidates and bigger than politics," Biden said. "It’s about defeating Donald Trump."

Bloomberg, who plunged millions of his own money into his 2020 run for President, was unable to break through in any meaningful way on Super Tuesday.

Overnight, Bloomberg lost delegates as the votes came in from both Texas and California, as he dropped below the 15 percent threshold for statewide delegates.

It was possible that Bloomberg could finish fourth behind Elizabeth Warren in delegates from Super Tuesday, as Warren was also said to be reviewing the future of her campaign.

Bloomberg was the fourth major Democratic candidate to leave the race since Biden won the South Carolina Primary by a large margin on Saturday night, joining Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar in endorsing Biden.

Those endorsements - especially from Klobuchar in her home state of Minnesota - seemed to rally Democratic Party voters to Biden's side, as he won nine states, and was leading in a tenth in Maine.

Bloomberg's campaign - fueled by millions in pervasive television advertisements - pushed him into the top tier of Democratic candidates by mid February.

But Bloomberg's weak performance at a pair of Democratic debates - in which he was attacked repeatedly by Elizabeth Warren - caused his poll numbers to wane, as Biden suddenly grabbed on to major momentum in the Democratic race.

As for Warren, she was also meeting with top advisers, trying to figure out if she would stay in the race, a night after losing her home state and finishing no better than third on Super Tuesday.

Warren has no campaign events scheduled until Friday in Michigan.