Cory Booker has ended his bid for the Democratic nomination to be president, according to news reports that cite an email his campaign sent on Monday morning announcing the suspension. The Washington Post reported that the New Jersey senator indicated that a lack of funds along with his increasing inability to see a path forward in the race were among the reasons for him ending his campaign.
So I’ve chosen to suspend my campaign now, take care of my wonderful staff, and give you time to consider the other strong choices in the field,” Booker wrote in the email.
Booker’s departure from the race all left an even whiter field of candidates that already lacked diversity.
The senator’s decision to end his campaign came amid reports that House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi was set to deliver the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate for the president’s trial (though it was unclear when exactly that would happen). Booker, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, would join his fellow former presidential candidate Kamala Harris is helping to preside over Trump’s impeachment trial.
Stacey Abrams was among those sending their outpouring of support for Booker after he announced the move that was expected amid his low polling and inability to secure spots on the previous and next debate stages.
Booker joined Harris and Julian Castro in candidates who have recently ended their campaigns. The three of them were also the only reliable voices when it came to speaking up on the campaign trial and debate stages about the state of Black and brown lives in the U.S. Without them running for president, the only people of color still in the race were entrepreneur Andrew Yang and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
Booker was polling at 1 percent according to the most recent national poll and 3 percent in the most recent poll in Iowa, where voters were set to caucus to open the season’s pivotal primary contest on Feb. 3.
Now that Booker is no longer running for president, he can put more of his focus on Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate — when and if it ever happens. Politico reported that Pelosi has warned of a “coverup” by Republican senators who want to proceed with an impeachment trial that would be devoid of any witnesses. The thought of that ever happening was “insane” Booker said last week.
“If you were a juror at a big trial, and they told you firsthand witnesses that saw what happened, material fact witnesses, are not there, you would be offended as a juror, like ‘what the hell…they’re not at the trial,’ that’s insane,” Booker said on SiriusXM’s “The Joe Madison Show” on Friday. “It makes no sense.”
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