Tulsi Gabbard Drops Bid For Democratic Presidential Nomination

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on Thursday dropped her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and threw her support to frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden. The announcement came as Sen. Bernie Sanders was mulling his next move after losing the latest round of primaries to Biden on Tuesday.

“After Tuesday's election, it is clear that Democratic Primary voters have chosen Vice President Joe Biden to be the person who will take on President Trump in the general election,” Gabbard, D-Hawaii, said in a statement, adding, “Although I may not agree with the vice president on every issue, I know that he has a good heart and is motivated by his love for our country and the American people.”

Biden leads Sanders 42% to 25% ahead of Connecticut’s April 28 primary, a poll by the Hartford Courant and Sacred Heart University indicated. The RealClearPolitics average of polls give Biden a 55.7% to 35.3% lead over Sanders. Gabbard, the only woman left in the race, was polling at 3%.

Biden also is leading in the delegate count: 1,180 to Sanders’ 885. Gabbard won a single delegate.

Gabbard’s candidacy never really caught on. Her campaign also ran into trouble after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, suggested Gabbard was being “groomed” as a third-party spoiler. She filed a defamation suit against Clinton for implying Gabbard was a Russian asset.

Sanders indicated he has no intention of leaving the race just yet, but he conceded his path to the nomination is virtually blocked. To win the nomination, he would need to secure 63% of the remaining delegates.

Biden, meanwhile, has shifted his focus to reuniting the party and the nation. He has issued a series of press releases criticizing President Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and urging Americans to unite to deal with the situation.

“Americans are already making sacrifices and readjusting their lives, and I know that as a people, we are capable of meeting this challenge, coming together, caring for one another, and saving lives,” Biden said. “We just need President Trump and his administration to demonstrate the same level of dedication and aggressive leadership at the federal level to mount an effective national response.”