Billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ended his presidential campaign, and has said he is backing Joe Biden for the Democratic Party's nomination to challenge Donald Trump in the November election.
"A viable path to the nomination no longer exists," Mr Bloomberg said in a statement, having failed to deliver convincing wins in his electoral debut on Super Tuesday despite lavish spending on campaign ads across the US.
Endorsing Mr Biden, Mr Bloomberg said: "I will work to make him the next president of the United States."
Three months ago, I entered the race to defeat Donald Trump. Today, I'm leaving for the same reason. Defeating Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. It's clear that is my friend and a great American, @JoeBiden. pic.twitter.com/cNJDIQHS75
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) March 4, 2020
His exit ended a novel electoral strategy, a vast experiment in political advertising, as Mr Bloomberg, 78, skipped the four early-voting states and instead focused on the 14-state Super Tuesday contest.
His only victory yesterday came in the US territory of American Samoa.
Mr Biden, 77, the former vice president, accomplished his Super Tuesday goal of muscling Mr Bloomberg aside and consolidating support of moderates to turn the race into a one-on-one contest against the democratic socialist, US Senator Bernie Sanders.
Mr Bloomberg was winning more than 15% of the vote, enough to pick up some delegates, in Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Utah, California and Arkansas.
Since entering the race on 24 November, Mr Bloomberg spent more than $500m of the fortune he built on his eponymous media company on an ad campaign that vaulted him into the top tier of the Democratic field.
After blanketing the airwaves with promises that he could defeat Mr Trump in the 3 November election, his support among Democrats and independents in public opinion polls rose to around 15% from about 5% when he entered.
He hired thousands of staff and mounted a vigorous national tour focused on the 14 states that voted on 3 March.
But Mr Bloomberg was dogged along the way by criticism over his past support of policies seen as racially discriminatory, including stop-and-frisk policing, which ensnared a disproportionate number of African-Americans and Latinos, as well as past sexist remarks.
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His Democratic rivals attacked him in his first presidential debate on 19 February in Nevada.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren lambasted him for making crude jokes about women and Bernie Sanders accused him of trying to buy the election. Outside his rallies - which were often smaller than those of his rivals - protesters regularly waved signs echoing Mr Sanders' claim.
Inside them, Bloomberg detractors and enthusiasts alike ate from tables stocked with free food.
Mr Bloomberg was assailed for his spending despite his pledge to use his personal fortune to support the eventual Democratic nominee, whoever it was.
Mr Bloomberg apologised for stop-and-frisk a few days before he announced his candidacy.
When Mr Bloomberg got into the race many months after other leading candidates, he said he was worried none of the other candidates could beat Donald Trump.
"Trump would eat 'em up," he told CBS's "This Morning" on 6 December. He increasingly pitched himself as the centrist alternative to Mr Sanders. In the 19 February debate, he described Mr Sanders' policies as "communism."
Mr Bloomberg's political fortunes initially rose after Mr Biden, who led in public opinion polls during much of 2019, performed poorly in the first three nomination contests: Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Mr Bloomberg did not compete in those races, nor in the fourth contest in South Carolina, saying his late entry made it impossible to assemble a competitive election staff in those states.
Mr Bloomberg heavily criticised Donald Trump, and the two New York billionaires traded insults, with Mr Trump mocking Bloomberg's short stature on Twitter, nicknaming him "mini-Mike."
Mini Mike Bloomberg just "quit" the race for President. I could have told him long ago that he didn't have what it takes, and he would have saved himself a billion dollars, the real cost. Now he will pour money into Sleepy Joe’s campaign, hoping to save face. It won’t work!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2020
Mr Bloomberg earned his estimated $60bn fortune by founding Bloomberg News, a leading purveyor of financial information for Wall Street firms.
After spending much of his life as a Democrat, he switched to the Republican party in 2001 to run for mayor of New York.
He became an independent in 2007, and switched back to the Democratic Party in 2018.
His past as a Republican also dogged him during his presidential run. Ms Warren attacked Mr Bloomberg at the Democrats' 25 February debate for giving money in 2012 to support the election campaign of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican and a key ally of Mr Trump.
