NYC Mayor de Blasio ends 2020 bid
New York City Mayor and Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio is dropping out of the 2020 race.
De Blasio made the announcement Friday on MSNBC's Morning Joe where he said the central reason for his decision was the party's rules for qualifying for the televised debate, saying, quote, "The bar is so high so early that for a lot of us - clearly, some of my fellow chief executives, governors - couldn't make that cut."
De Blasio failed to qualify for the Sept 12th debate and was unlikely to garner enough support and funds to qualify for the fourth debate next month.
U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in sarcastically on Twitter saying quote:
"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!"
De Blasio tried to position himself as the person that could take on Trump while putting focus on helping working people.
But he struggled to build a national profile and faced criticism from home for mounting a long-shot campaign.
In an OP-ed for NBC News, De Blasio, who is barred from seeking a third term as mayor, said he planned to (quote) "redouble" his efforts to improve the quality of life for New Yorkers.
