Bernie Sanders has officially ended his presidential campaign, leaving Joe Biden to become the Democratic nominee.
As CNN reports, Sanders revealed the news to his campaign staff during a call on Wednesday morning. While he showed strong momentum in the early days of his campaign (particularly in February), the hopes of him becoming the Democratic nominee started to diminish when Biden walked away from Super Tuesday victorious.
In a post on Twitter, Sanders announced an 11:45 a.m. ET livestream in which he would address supporters of the campaign. "Today I am suspending my campaign but while the campaign ends, the struggle for justice continues on," he said. He thanked everyone for their contributions and support, once again highlighting how he ran one of the most succesful grassroots campaigns in American history.
"We have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice," Sanders said. "Our movement has won the ideological struggle."
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While he has officially put an end to his campaign, he will still be on the ballots for the Democratic primary elections in order to gain more delegates to influence the party's platform. "Together, standing united, we will go forward to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in Modern American history," he added.
Sanders added that he would work with Biden, who he called a "decent man," to push forward "progressive" ideals.
In a statement, Biden addressed the suspension of the Sanders campaign. "He hasn’t just run a political campaign; he’s created a movement,” Biden said. “And make no mistake about it, I believe it’s a movement that is as powerful today as it was yesterday. That’s a good thing for our nation and our future." He said he would be "reaching out" to Sanders. "Together we will defeat Donald Trump. And when we do that, we'll not only do the hard work of rebuilding this nation—we’ll transform it."
Trump, meanwhile, said that Sanders could have won the Democratic nomination if it wasn't for Elizabeth Warren. "Bernie Sanders is OUT!" he tweeted. "Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday! This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted, same as the Crooked Hillary fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!"
In a follow-up he added, "Wow, Bernie is unwilling to give up delegates, and wants more of them! What's that all about?"