Mike Bloomberg drops out of presidential race, endorses Joe Biden

Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for president on Wednesday, one day after failing to convert his massive wealth into sufficient delegates in his first test at the ballot box.

In a statement and social media posts, Bloomberg said he would end his campaign and endorse Joe Biden, the former vice-president who has revitalized his campaign in the past seven days with wins in South Carolina and most of the Super Tuesday states.

"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."

Bloomberg skipped the first four voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. He hung his success on Super Tuesday, spending at least $180 million US on advertising in those states, but had planned to continue deep into the primary calendar, already spending millions on advertising in states like Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Before results poured in on Tuesday, he projected confidence while campaigning in Florida, only to have his aides say the campaign would reassess the next day.

Bloomberg, 78, is one of the world's richest men, worth an estimated $61 billion. His fortune flows from the financial data and media company that bears his name, which he started in the 1980s. He has endeared himself to some progressive groups by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into fighting climate change and curbing gun violence. 

He said early in 2019 that we wouldn't seek the nomination, but he changed his mind by November. 

Debate struggles

Opponents attacked Bloomberg's spendthrift ways, late entry to the campaign and his Democratic bona fides, as he had been registered as a Republican during the first two terms of his three-term mayoralty. The tycoon was New York City mayor between 2002 and 2013, succeeding Rudy Giuliani and preceding Bill de Blasio, who also failed in a bid to win the Democratic nomination this cycle.

As voting drew closer, Bloomberg was forced to confront his Democratic rivals. His two debate performances were generally viewed as underwhelming, leading to derisive tweets from President Donald Trump.

Bloomberg proved unable to overcome consistent criticism of New York's use of the stop-and-frisk police practice under his tenure as mayor, which disproportionately targeted young black and Latino men for searches aimed at finding weapons. The practice ended after a federal judge declared it unconstitutional, and he apologized for using it weeks before announcing his presidential run.

He similarly faced pointed criticism — primarily from rival Elizabeth Warren — about the treatment of women at his company, Bloomberg LP. Under pressure from Warren, he said in mid-February he would release three women who sued him for harassment or discrimination complaints from confidentiality agreements. Women who worked for Bloomberg were featured in a commercial praising Bloomberg's and the company's treatment of women, and his longtime partner Diana Taylor defended him as a champion of women.

What's next for Bloomberg is unclear. He'd pledged to keep campaign offices open in key general election battleground states to help the Democrats defeat Trump even if he lost the party's nomination. But Sanders's campaign has said it does not want the help.

Warren said to be pondering next move

Bloomberg's is the latest of a host of endorsements for Biden in the past week, including former candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, as well as former FBI director James Comey and a number of former officials from the Barack Obama administration.

With votes still being counted across the country, The Associated Press has allocated 453 delegates to Biden, 382 to Sanders, 50 to Elizabeth Warren, 44 to Bloomberg and one for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. The numbers are expected to shift as new states report their numbers and as some candidates hover around the 15 per cent vote threshold they must hit to earn delegates.

The ultimate nominee must claim 1,991 delegates, which is a majority of the 3,979 pledged delegates available this primary season.

Warren was huddling with advisers on Wednesday to determine if there was a reason to stay in the race after a disappointing Super Tuesday performance. She didn't win a single state and finished in third place, after Biden and Sanders, in her home state of Massachusetts.