Warren Drops Out of Presidential Race

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) ended her presidential bid Thursday after a disappointing Super Tuesday in which she failed to win even her home state.

Warren first made the announcement to her staff Thursday morning, expressing disappointment, but thanked them for bringing attention to a number of different platforms.

“I want all of you to hear it first, and I want you to hear it straight from me: today, I’m suspending our campaign for president,” Warren told staffers on the call. “What we have done and the ideas we have launched into the world, the way we have fought this fight, the relationships we have built – will carry through, carry through for the rest of this election, and the one after that, and the one after that.”

Shortly after the news broke, the Massachusetts Senator made the announcement outside her Cambridge home Thursday afternoon with her husband Bruce by her side.

“I will not be running for president in 2020, but I guarantee I will stay in the fight for hardworking folks across this country who’ve gotten the short end of the stick over and over,” Warren told reporters. “One of the hardest parts of this is all those pinky promises and all those little girls who are gonna have to wait four more years. That’s gonna be hard. … I take those pinky promises seriously.”

When asked on who she would endorsed between the last two candidates left in the field — former Vice President Joe Biden or Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Warren declined to make an endorsement, saying that she would take her time to determine whom to support.

“Not today,” Warren responded. “Let’s take a deep breath and spend a little time on that. We don’t have to decide that this minute.”

In 2016, Warren declined to endorse either Hillary Clinton or Sanders during their heated primary battle, disappointing supporters of both candidates, and instead sought to use her leverage to shape the eventual nominee’s agenda.

Warren tweeted Thursday afternoon, thanking her supporters and delivering an optimistic message. Linked in the tweet were the comments she shared with her campaign staff.

Our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. https://t.co/28kyKe777L
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 5, 2020

The news comes after a disappointing performance on the biggest day of primary voting, when she came in third in her home state of Massachusetts. Moderate candidates Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) dropped out in the days before Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden, giving the former Vice President the resurgence to the lead for the Democratic nomination.

Pressure from progressive supporters swiftly grew on Warren to drop out and endorse Sanders to help him consolidate the progressive vote .

Sanders tweeted after the public announcement: “[Warren] has taken on the most powerful corporate interests because she cares about those who have been left behind. Without her, the progressive movement would not be nearly as strong as it is today. I know that she’ll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will.”

President Trump commented on Warren’s post-Super Tuesday exit from the Democratic primary race in a tweet, saying she cost Sanders the state of Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas by splitting the vote and that “probably cost him the nomination!”

“Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren, who was going nowhere except into Mini Mike’s head, just dropped out of the Democrat Primary…THREE DAYS TOO LATE,” Trump tweeted. “She cost Crazy Bernie, at least, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Probably cost him the nomination! Came in third in Mass.”