Warren's exit from presidential race sets up two-man battle
But ex-favourite for Democratic nomination says she isn't ready to back Biden or Sanders
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US Senator Elizabeth Warren speaking to reporters outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday after dropping out of the Democratic presidential race. The progressive lawmaker said she "will stay in the fight for the hardworking folks across the country who have gotten the short end of the stick".
PHOTO: REUTERS
CAMBRIDGE • Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, once a favourite to win the Democratic presidential nomination, has dropped out of the race, setting up a two-man duel between Mr Joe Biden and Mr Bernie Sanders.
"I am suspending my campaign for president," the 70-year-old progressive lawmaker announced on Thursday following her disappointing performance in the Super Tuesday primaries.
"But I guarantee I will stay in the fight for the hardworking folks across the country who have gotten the short end of the stick," she told reporters outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ms Warren said she was not ready to endorse either of the two remaining major candidates - Mr Biden, the 77-year-old former vice-president, or Mr Sanders, the 78-year-old leftist Vermont senator.
She told MSNBC in an interview that she respected Mr Biden but they came at many issues from "different directions", while adding that Mr Sanders was an old friend with whom she had worked for "a very, very long time".
Ms Warren's withdrawal leaves only one woman in the Democratic field, Ms Tulsi Gabbard, but the Hawaii congresswoman has never been a significant factor, polling at less than 1 per cent.
Ms Warren said she regretted that there would not be a woman in the top spot on the Democratic ticket against Republican President Donald Trump in November. "The hardest part of this is all those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years," she said.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar pulled out of the race this week and two other female senators - Kamala Harris of California and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York - dropped out earlier.
Ms Warren was asked whether being a woman had something to do with her lacklustre performance at the polls. "If you say, 'Yeah, there was sexism in this race', everyone says, 'Whiner'," she said.
"And if you say, 'No, there was no sexism', about a bazillion women think, 'What planet do you live on?' "
Mr Biden and Mr Sanders both praised Ms Warren in tweets following her announcement.
"Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle-class families," Mr Biden said.
"Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in people's lives. We needed her voice in this race, and we need her continued work in the Senate."
Mr Sanders said Ms Warren "has run an extraordinary campaign of ideas - demanding that the wealthy pay their fair share, ending corruption in Washington, guaranteeing healthcare for all, addressing climate change, tackling the student debt crisis and vigorously protecting women's rights".
"Without her, the progressive movement would not be nearly as strong as it is today."
Mr Trump responded to Ms Warren's withdrawal with a tweet mocking her and billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren, who was going nowhere except into Mini Mike's head, just dropped out of the Democrat Primary... THREE DAYS TOO LATE," said the President.
Ms Warren's withdrawal came after she failed to win a single state on Super Tuesday, including her own, Massachusetts.
Her decision to quit the race came one day after that of Mr Bloomberg, who dropped out after a disappointing Super Tuesday showing of his own and endorsed fellow centrist Biden.
"I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes, a progressive lane that Bernie Sanders is the incumbent for, and a moderate lane that Joe Biden is an incumbent for, and there is no room for anyone else in this," Ms Warren said on Thursday.
"I felt that wasn't right, but evidently I was wrong."
Ms Warren, a former Harvard law professor, cut her teeth on the 2008 financial crisis, guiding then President Barack Obama towards creation of a consumer protection agency.
Her experience as a number-crunching people's advocate helped project her early image as a can-do policy wonk and she quickly became associated with the catchphrase "I have a plan for that".
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