Bloomberg ends presidential bid, endorses Biden

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After spending $500 million of his own money to be the Democratic nominee, all Michael Bloomberg got on Super Tuesday was a handful of delegates and no state wins.

(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, SAYING:

"We proved we can win the voters who will decide the general election, and isn't that what this is all about?"

And on Wednesday, he faced the music and suspended his campaign -- throwing his support behind Joe Biden.

In a statement Wednesday he said, “I’ve always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden."

His exit ended a novel electoral strategy: flooding the race with unlimited funds and skipping the first four states to instead focus on Super Tuesday.

He hired thousands of staff across the country and mounted a vigorous national campaign.

But Bloomberg – the billionaire businessman and former mayor of New York - was dogged along the way by criticism over his past support of policies seen as racially discriminatory, as well as past sexist remarks.

Bloomberg's poor debate performance, and Biden's strong win in South Carolina catapulted Biden and all-but doomed Bloomberg.

Bloomberg joins former candidates Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg in backing Biden. But his involvement in the race won't end there. He's previously pledged to continue using his vast fortune to defeat Trump in November no matter who the nominee is.

With the Democratic now a one-on-one contest between Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, the focus shifts to Senator Elizabeth Warren. Once the front-runner of the race, the candidate on Wednesday was "talking to her team to assess the path forward," a campaign aide said, after the senator from Massachusetts saw disappointing results across the board on Tuesday.

Warren did not finish in the top two in any of the 14 states that voted on Super Tuesday, including her home state of Massachusetts.