WASHINGTON: Senator Bernie Sanders on Wednesday dropped out of the White House race, paving the way for former vice president Joe Biden to become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party and take on President Donald Trump in November presidential elections.
"Today I am suspending my campaign. But while the campaign ends, the struggle for justice continues on," Sanders, 78, said.
The announcement from the Vermont Senator was expected as he had not done well in the recent Democratic primaries against Biden, 77, who has now taken a substantial lead over him after winning a series of key Democratic presidential primaries.
"Sanders's withdrawal from the race concludes a quest for the White House that began five years ago in relative obscurity but ultimately elevated him as a champion of the working class, a standard-bearer of American liberalism and the leader of a self-styled political revolution," The New York Times commented.