New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday morning he is dropping out of the 2020 presidential race.
"I feel like I contributed all I can to this primary election and it’s clearly not my time," he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” "So I’m going to end my presidential campaign, continue my work as mayor of New York City and I’m going to keep speaking up for working people.”
“We have a chance to get it right in 2020,” de Blasio added. “Whoever our nominee is, let’s make sure we’re talking to the hearts of working people.”
JUST IN: NYC Mayor de Blasio drops out of presidential race, he announces on @Morning_Joe: "It's clearly not my time." pic.twitter.com/6bAEXb2bTA
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 20, 2019
De Blasio, who first entered the Democratic race in May, never was able to get his campaign off the ground, polling at under 1 percent nationally, according to RealClearPolitics’s average.
President Trump made fun of him on Twitter, joking that New York City “is devastated” that he’s returning to the city.
"Oh no, really big political news, perhaps the biggest story in years!" the president tweeted. "Part time Mayor of New York City, @BilldeBlasio, who was polling at a solid ZERO but had tremendous room for growth, has shocking dropped out of the Presidential race. NYC is devastated, he’s coming home!"
Oh no, really big political news, perhaps the biggest story in years! Part time Mayor of New York City, @BilldeBlasio, who was polling at a solid ZERO but had tremendous room for growth, has shocking dropped out of the Presidential race. NYC is devastated, he’s coming home!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2019
De Blasio had previously said he would wait to assess his campaign's future depending on whether he could get into the October debates. Apparently he realized that was never going to happen.
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