Michael Bloomberg Ends Presidential Bid, Endorses Joe Biden

Michael Bloomberg ended his presidential campaign Wednesday after failing to persuade Democratic voters he was the best choice to defeat President Donald Trump despite record spending that topped a half-billion dollars.

In a statement, Bloomberg said he was endorsing Joe Biden.

“I’ve always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden.”

(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

Bloomberg had staked his candidacy on gaining a critical mass of delegates on Super Tuesday and subsequent races, after taking the never-before-tried path of skipping the first four contests. But he decided to drop out after he failed to collect enough delegates to continue being a serious contender.

“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 the statement issued by his campaign.

He has vowed to keep spending money and put the formidable infrastructure he built for his campaign in key battleground states at the service of the nominee. But the statement Wednesday made no mention of that.