Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is stepping down from the U.S. Democratic presidential race after a dismal Super Tuesday performance.
His withdrawal means the Democratic primary is now looking like a two-person contest between Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Voters from 14 U.S. states and one territory went to the polls on Super Tuesday, marking a pivotal point in the Democratic primary.
Bloomberg, who spent more than half a billion dollars on his campaign, says he entered the race to defeat Donald Trump and is now throwing his support behind Joe Biden.
Speaking at a campaign event on Super Tuesday, Biden criticized the current occupant of the White House.
"We have got to beat Donald Trump, and we will, but we can't become like him. We can't have a never ending war between the parties. We need a president who can fight and make no mistake about it, I can fight, but look we need as badly, as badly someone who can heal," said Biden.
The 77-year-old comeback kid scored key victories in states like Virginia and Texas on Super Tuesday.
Voters cast their ballot on the Super Tuesday, at a voting center in Rosemead, Calif., Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
With Bloomberg out and other candidates like Senator Elizabeth Warren way behind, Biden is now gunning for early leader Bernie Sanders.
The Vermont Senator, who lost to Hillary Clinton in a tight race in 2016, is refusing to back down after winning delegate-rich California.
"We are not only taking on the corporate establishment, we're taking on the political establishment. But we're going to win because the people understand it is our campaign, our movement, which is (the) best position to defeat Trump. You cannot beat Trump with the same old, same old kind of politics," said Sanders at his rally.
Sanders and Biden both walk away from Tuesday primaries with hundreds of delegates. However, they’re still a long way from the magic number of 1991 delegates needed to grasp the Democratic presidential nomination.