New York Mayor drops out of 2020 Democratic race

Unable to make any substantive impact on the 2020 race for President, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Friday that he was giving up his bid for the Democratic Party nomination for the White House, saying it was obviously not his moment.

In a series of appearances on news programs from New York, the mayor of America's biggest city acknowledged that he was never able to break out of a group of candidates consistently mired at the bottom of the polls, and far behind Democratic leaders.

“It’s true: I’m ending my candidacy for president,” de Blasio said. “But our fight on behalf of working people is far from over.”

“I feel like I've contributed all I can to this primary election and it's clearly not my time,” the Mayor said.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announces that he is ending his 2020 presidential campaign, saying "it's clearly not my time" https://t.co/xNWlMZvmEs pic.twitter.com/M14fFaTab0
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) September 20, 2019

Breaking: Bill de Blasio announces he is ending his presidential campaign pic.twitter.com/vL8GcX3xV5
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) September 20, 2019

DeBlasio's two Democratic Party debates left little in the way of memorable moments for him.

In the second debate in Detroit, de Blasio tried a unique tactical move on stage, using his time to direct questions at front runner Joe Biden, in an effort to confront the race leader.

But the effort did little to change the dynamic of the race, where de Blasio and other candidates were unable to qualify for future debates, and had become asterisks in the 2020 race.

The news gave President Trump a target which he could not resist.

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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2019

The latest national poll on the Democratic field, from Fox News, showed de Blasio far back in the pack - along with a number of other Democrats.