De Blasio drops out of 2020 presidential race

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ended his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Friday after struggling to gain traction in a sprawling field of candidates.

The Democrat made his decision public during an interview on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.'

In an essay posted to NBCNews.com Friday, de Blasio wrote:   "After several months of campaigning, I have reached the point where I feel I have contributed all I can to this Democratic primary. Today, I'm ending my campaign for the presidency."

De Blasio struggled to gain traction in a sprawling field of Democrats seeking the presidency.

His campaign events were largely mocked for the small numbers of supporters who showed up across the country.

De Blasio said he feels he's contributed all he can "to this primary election."

He told the "Morning Joe" show "It's clearly not my time."

De Blasio joins New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Washington Sen. Jay Inslee, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and California Rep. Eric Swallwell, who have all left the Democratic primary race.

The 58-year-old mayor launched his bid in May but his campaign largely failed to take off. He never achieved higher than 1% in a national poll and was ridiculed in the media, most recently in a Washington Post story headlined "Bill de Blasio's presidential campaign has burned down, fallen over and sunk into a swamp."

He qualified for the first two rounds of debates but failed to make the September debate stage and appeared unlikely to qualify for the October debates.

De Blasio struggled to achieve the breakout moment he needed to stand out in the crowded Democratic field. After a strong performance in the first round of debates in June he flubbed a campaign appearance in Miami by quoting Che Guevara. De Blasio said he did not know that the slogan "Hasta la victoria siempre!" was associated with Guevara, a leader of the Cuban Revolution who is reviled by much of Miami's Cuban population.

De Blasio boasted of his administration's record on police reform but was followed around on the campaign trail both by protesters from the city's largest police union and by hecklers demanding that he fire the officers involved in the 2014 death of Eric Garner on Staten Island. The protests did not end after the Aug. 19 firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who placed Garner in the chokehold that contributed to his death. An activist interrupted de Blasio's Aug. 25 CNN town hall to demand that other officers who were also present during Garner's arrest be fired.

Critics complained that de Blasio, who is term-limited and must leave office at the end of 2021, was running for president because he was bored with his day job.

On his campaign's first day, he dived into an insult match with President Donald Trump.

On Friday, the President got his revenge.

"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!" the President wrote on Twitter.

With the Associated Press