California Sen. Kamala Harris announced that she will no longer seek the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday.
Harris made the announcement after her campaign laid off staffers in New Hampshire and at her Baltimore headquarters, The New York Times reports.
“My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue,” Harris wrote in an email to supporters on Tuesday. “But I want to be clear with you: I am still very much in this fight.”
With Harris’ departure, all of the candidates that are qualified to appear at the next debate in Los Angeles are white, despite a historically diverse field of candidates.
Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, struggled to find a lane in the primary as she positioned herself as both a progressive and a moderate at different times.
Harris championed Medicare for All before taking herself off the bill and calling for a different approach. She also struggled to counter criticism that she was too tough on nonviolent drug offenders and others while she was the attorney general of California.
Harris couldn’t raise enough money:
Harris said on a conference call with donors on Tuesday that she had “no path” forward.
Harris told donors that she would need to raise $5 million in two weeks, which she called impossible.
“I just don’t want to bullshit you,” she said.
“Although I’m no longer running for president,” Harris said in her announcement. “I will do everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump and fight for the future of our country and the best of who we are.”
Biden has “mixed emotions”:
Harris’ one big moment in the race was when she confronted Joe Biden at the first debate over his past opposition to bussing.
On Tuesday, Biden said he had “mixed emotions” about Harris dropping out.
“She’s a first-rate candidate and a real competitor and I have mixed emotions about it because she is really a solid, solid person and loaded with talent,” Biden said.
