Michael Bloomberg dropped out of the Democratic Party’s race for the presidential nomination on Wednesday, turning it into a clear ideological battle pitching the centrist wing of the party coalescing around former Vice President Joe Biden against Senator Bernie Sanders’s radical left.
Biden stunningly re-emerged the leading candidate after winning nine of the 14 intra-party elections on Tuesday, having lagged behind Sanders and even others in the first three polls.
Multi-billionaire Bloomberg, who had spent about $400 mn of his own money to campaign in the polls to select the Democratic nominee to take on President Donald Trump in the November election, was the fourth candidate to drop out and the third to endorse Biden.
Announcing his decision, Bloomberg said, “I entered the race for president to defeat Donald Trump. Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump.”
“Staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult” apparently because an extended party battle would sap the moderates’ energy, he said.