Elizabeth Warren exits 2020 presidential race

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ended her 2020 presidential campaign Thursday after a disappointing performance in the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses.

“I will not be running for president in 2020 but I guarantee I will stay in the fight for the hardworking folks across this country who have gotten the short end of the stick over and over,” Warren told reporters Thursday morning. “That’s been the fight of my life, and it will continue to be.”

Earlier Thursday, citing an unidentified person close to Warren, The New York Times reported she had decided to end her presidential bid amidst waning support. Previously, the Massachusetts senator had been considered one of the race's front-runners.

She thanked campaign staff members Thursday morning in a phone call announcing her decision.

“Choose to fight only righteous fights, because then when things get tough -- and they will -- you will know that there is only (one) option ahead of you," she said. “Nevertheless, you must persist.”

Warren was the highest-profile person to join the presidential race when she announced her candidacy in December 2018. As one of the Democratic party's more prominent liberals, Warren positioned herself as the "woman with a plan," NPR reported.

She appealed to progressives with a strong message of economic populism but failed to place higher than third in any of Tuesday’s 14 primaries or caucuses. In her home state of Massachusetts, she came in third behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

She told reporters Thursday that when she entered the race she was told there were only two lanes available for candidates: one considered more conservative and led by Biden and the other more liberal and led by Sanders.

“I thought it was possible that that wasn’t the case, that there was more room,” she said. “But evidently that wasn’t the case.”

While speaking outside her Massachusetts home, Warren declined to immediately endorse either Sanders or Biden, the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“Let’s take a deep breath and decide that,” she said. “We don’t have to decide that right this minute.”

Warren has talked to both campaigns in recent days and is assessing who would best uphold her agenda, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Warren was frequently targeted by President Donald Trump, who refers to her as “Pocahontas,” a reference to her claims to Native American ancestry. He used the derisive nickname in a tweet reacting to news Thursday of Warren’s exit from the presidential race.

Warren dropped her bid for the presidency one day after former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg ended his presidential campaign. Three candidates remain in the running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.