Life

Bill de Blasio Ends 2020 Presidential Campaign

The NYC mayor had failed to inspire public interest in his campaign, ultimately calling the whole thing off Friday.

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Image via Getty/Sean Rayford
Getty

That's it for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Friday, de Blasio announced that he’s dropping the curtain on his 2020 POTUS run that notably came up short in the public enthusiasm department.

"This campaign has been a profound experience for me," de Blasio, who said he had "contributed all I can" to this Democratic primary, told supporters via an NBC Newsop-ed Friday. "I saw America in full—not as it appears on Twitter and cable news, where we're constantly shown a country hamstrung by our differences and unable to tackle the problems we face. We have more in common than we realize—and more and more of us across the country are overcoming our divisions and standing up for working people."

Moving forward, de Blasio said he's aiming to "redouble" efforts to "improve the quality of life of everyday New Yorkers." He also urged other Democrats to work toward what he believes is a "return to our roots" by focusing on policies that put "the concerns of working people" front and center.

The dropout announcement comes just weeks after de Blasio said at a news conference that it was "really tough" to imagine continuing his campaign should he not make it into the October round of debates.

"The debates have actually in the end had relatively little impact on the polling, but they are kind of the main street of the dialogue," he said at the time.

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