Bloomberg drops out of Prez race, endorses Biden

Democratic presidential race narrows down to 2-way fight between Biden, Sanders

NEW YORK: Billionaire Mike Bloomberg ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden. It was a stunning collapse for the former New York City mayor, who had his 2020 hopes on the Super Tuesday states and pumped more than $500 million of his own fortune into the campaign.

Bloomberg announced his departure from the race after a disappointing finish on Super Tuesday in the slate of states that account for almost onethird of the total delegates available in the Democratic nominating contest. He won only the territory of American Samoa and picked up several dozen delegates elsewhere. Biden, meanwhile, won big in Southern states where Bloomberg had poured tens of millions of dollars and even cautiously hoped for a victory.

“Three months ago, I entered the race for President to defeat Donald Trump,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “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.”

The race to win the Democratic presidential nomination in the US has narrowed down to a two-way contest between former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders as the two leaders clinched major victories during the “Super Tuesday” primaries , the most important day in the fight for the White House.

The “Super Tuesday”, or March 3 presidential primaries, were held in as many as 15 states including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

Biden, 77, registered impressive victories in the States of Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Arkansas, propelling him as the frontrunner in the primaries.

However, Sanders, 78, by winning big in the State of California which sends 415 pledge delegates reflected the fight to win Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Donald Trump was not over yet.

The Senator also won his home State of Vermont in addition to Utah, and Colorado. He and Biden were in a close race in Maine and Texas. But it is virtually end of the race for Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren after she badly lost her own home State to Biden.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a late entrant in this race, too failed to make a dent as he won the American Samoa Caucus. He reportedly spent USD 500 million in the campaign so far. However, early results from California showed that he was trailing behind winner Sanders but ahead of presumptive frontrunner Biden.

The biggest loser tonight, by far, is Mini Mike Bloomberg. His political consultants took him for a ride, President Donald Trump said in a tweet.

Trump has decisively won the Republican primary.

USD 700 million washed down the drain, and he got nothing for it but the nickname Mini Mike, and the complete destruction of his reputation. Way to go Mike! Trump said.

Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren, other than Mini Mike, was the loser of the night. She didn't even come close to winning her home state of Massachusetts. Well, now she can just sit back with her husband and have a nice cold beer! Trump said in another tweet.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to enter the House of Representatives, and whose presidential ambition has failed to take off, won her first pledged delegate in American Samoa.

With the results of major States of Texas and California, Biden was leading pledged delegate count with 327 as against 218 by Sanders.

Either of the candidates need at least 1991 of the 3,979 pledged delegates to win the presidential nomination of the Democratic party.