Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is ending his presidential campaign after several disappointing primary results.
His announcement Wednesday is an acknowledgment that the former vice president is too far ahead for him to have any reasonable hope of catching up.
"I wish I could give you better news, but I think you know the truth," Sanders told supporters Wednesday morning in a live stream address, saying "the path towards victory is virtually impossible."
"I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will be unsuccessful," Sanders continued, calling it a "difficult and painful decision."
The departure makes Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in November.
Sanders thanked his supporters for making a "profound impact in changing our nation."
"Together we have transformed the American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become," Sanders said. He argued that ideas such as Medicare for All and raising the minimum wage had gained traction in mainstream Democratic politics, proving "our movement has won the ideological struggle."
Sanders won the 2020 Nevada Democratic caucuses, with Biden coming in second.
"I will stay on the ballot in all remaining states and continue to gather delegates. While Vice President Biden will be the nominee, we must continue working to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic Convention where we will be able to exert significant influence over the party platform and other functions. Then together, standing united, we will go forward to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history."
The 78-year-old senator began his latest White House bid facing questions about whether he could win back the supporters who chose him four years ago as an insurgent alternative to the party establishment’s choice, Hillary Clinton. Despite winning 22 states in 2016, there were no guarantees he’d be a major presidential contender this cycle, especially as the race’s oldest candidate.
Sanders lost to Clinton in the 2016 Nevada Democratic caucuses.
Biden released a statement after Sanders' announcement, in part, saying, "I know Bernie well. He’s a good man, a great leader, and one of the most powerful voices for change in our country. And it’s hard to sum up his contributions to our politics in one, single tweet. So I won’t try to." You can read his full statement at the bottom of this article.
Trump 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale released this statement:
“With Bernie Sanders suspending his campaign, it’s but official that the Democrat establishment got the candidate they wanted in Joe Biden, as well as the candidate President Trump will destroy in November. President Trump is still disrupting Washington, D.C. while Biden represents the old, tired way and continuing to coddle the communist regime in China. Democrat elites shoved Bernie Sanders to the side for a second time, leaving many of his supporters looking for a new home.”
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(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report.)
