Beto O’Rourke Ends His 2020 Presidential Campaign

Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke has announced he is stepping down from his 2020 presidential campaign, days after he visited Hot 97’s ‘The Breakfast Club’ to discuss his candidacy.

O’Rourke wrote in a Medium post, “Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully. My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee. Acknowledging this now is in the best interests of those in the campaign; it is in the best interests of this party as we seek to unify around a nominee, and it is in the best interests of the country.”

In a series of tweets, with the Medium link attached, O’Rourke wrote, “Our campaign has always been about seeing clearly, speaking honestly, and acting decisively. In that spirit: I am announcing that my service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee.”

He also gave reassurance of his support for the forthcoming Democratic nominee over Donald Trump for the 2020 election. “We will work to ensure that the Democratic nominee is successful in defeating Donald Trump in 2020,” O’Rourke wrote in the blog post. “I can tell you firsthand from having the chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them, and I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is.”

According to CNBC, polls never reflected O’Rourke cracking 10% in votes and his popularity had a downward trend as the Democratic primary continued. His campaign fundraising numbers also fell short of the front-runners in the primary. O’Rourke posted $4.5 million in the most recent quarter, as compared to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $25.3 million and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s $24.6 million in the same period.

Of course, Trump threw some shade his way tweeting, “Oh no, Beto just dropped out of the race for President despite him saying he was ‘born for this.’ I don’t think so!”, referring to a quote from a profile in Vanity Fair, in which O’Rourke said he was “just born to be in” the race for the White House.