Politics
Associated Press
Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City raises his hand at the Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 25, 2020.
- Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar both ended their campaigns to be the Democratic nomination for president on Monday.
- Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City, who is still in the race, told supporters in North Virginia on Monday the two candidates "behaved themselves" on the campaign trail.
- "I wish them all the best. I thought both of them behaved themselves, is a nice way to phrase it," he said. "They represented their country and their states very well, and I felt sorry for them."
- Bloomberg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, and Vice President Joe Biden are the only candidates left in the race now.
- Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar went on to endorse former Vice President Joe Biden.
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Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City responded to the campaign suspensions of former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Monday by saying that they "behaved themselves" and that he "felt sorry for them."
"[I've] talked to them, Pete earlier today, and Amy just a little while ago, and I wish them all the best," Bloomberg told a crowd of supporters in North Virginia on Monday.
"I thought both of them behaved themselves, is a nice way to phrase it, but they represented their country and their states very well, and I felt sorry for them," Bloomberg continued.
"But I'm in it to win it, and we are gonna go out and we're gonna go get 'em."
Bloomberg made the comment after he was asked for his reaction to the news that the pair had ended their campaigns to be the Democratic nomination for president on Monday, according to CBS election reporter Tim Perry, who tweeted a clip from the Bloomberg rally.
Just five Democrats remain in the race now: Bloomberg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Bloomberg faces an uphill battle to leapfrog Sanders and Biden, who both rank ahead of him in the polls.
Biden is going into Super Tuesday in the strongest position of his campaign so far, after he swept the field in South Carolina last week, and secured the backing of five prominent Democratic Party figures on Monday, including Buttigieg and Klobuchar.
Former candidate Beto O'Rourke, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also endorsed Biden on Monday.
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NEW: @MikeBloomberg makes first comments on both Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropping out. In Northern Virginia he says he spoke to both of them and they both "behaved themselves," also says he felt sorry for them, but he's "in it to win it." pic.twitter.com/8JDoLCl6Wc
- Tim Perry (@tperry518) March 2, 2020