President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign ribbed Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) after announcing that she is ending her flailing bid for the White House.
Trump War Room, a Twitter account managed by the president’s campaign, tweeted a congratulatory message to 2020 presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) after Harris suspended her campaign. Gabbard’s rivalry with Harris was a mainstay on the campaign trail after the Hawaii Democrat eviscerated the senator’s record as a prosecutor at July’s primary debate. According to the New York Times, Harris campaign aides point to the incident as one of several factors that led to the candidate’s “summer slump.”
President Trump’s official campaign Twitter account also joined in, sharing a silent video of Harris waving good-bye.
Harris announced Tuesday she is ending her 2020 White House bid following a period of campaign turmoil and disappointing fundraising that saw her fail to break out of a crowded field.
“I’ve taken stock and looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life,” the senator from California told supporters in an email.
“My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue.”
Harris, 55, was the only African-American woman seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
She rocketed toward the top of the field with a promising campaign launch in January, but saw her prospects slide in recent months as she struggled to define her positions on various domestic issues including health care.
Harris is one of the biggest names to date to drop out of the race, along with former congressman Beto O’Rourke of Texas and New York mayor Bill de Blasio.
After stagnating in fifth place in the polls, with about 3.4 percent support, she was bumped to sixth spot out of 16 candidates after billionaire former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg recently threw his hat in the presidential contest.
The AFP contributed to this report.