WASHINGTON: Democrat Kamala 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.
“I’m not a billionaire. I can’t fund my own campaign,” she wrote to supporters. “As the campaign has gone on, it’s become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete.”
It was a biting and unveiled swat at some of her rivals, including Bloomberg and billionaire activist Tom Steyer, and a telling revelation about the piles of cash a candidate needs to mount a viable campaign in today’s overheated political environment.
Harris has been one the fiercest critics of Donald Trump among the 2020 candidates, directly attacking the embattled president and repeatedly calling for his impeachment.
She also challenged Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden head on in the party’s first presidential debate, a move that proved a strategic mistake as her support slid while Biden’s largely held steady.
Harris quickly received accolades from other candidates on Twitter after her premature exit from the race.
“Her campaign broke barriers and did it with joy. Love you, sister,” said fellow Senator Cory Booker, the other black candidate in the 2020 race.
Harris was the third candidate to drop out in recent days, along with low-polling Democrats Montana Governor Steve Bullock and former congressman Joe Sestak.
Democrat Kamala Harris ends 2020 White House bid
Democrat Kamala Harris ends 2020 White House bid
- Harris was bumped to sixth spot out of 16 candidates after billionaire former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg recently threw his hat in the ring
- She also challenged Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden head on in the party’s first presidential debate, a move that proved a strategic mistake
All schoolchildren accounted for after Nigeria kidnapping: Church
- The clarification comes after some 35 students were initially thought to be unaccounted for
- The Nigerian government announced the release of 130 more students on December 21
LAGOS: A Catholic diocese in Nigeria’s north-central region Thursday said that all schoolchildren and teachers taken by gunmen from their school in November have been “accounted for” and “reunited” with their families.
The clarification comes after some 35 students were initially thought to be unaccounted for after the government ended rescue efforts.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had said in November that 315 students and staff were kidnapped from St. Mary’s co-educational boarding school in Papiri, Niger State.
Some 50 escaped immediately afterwards, and on December 7 the government secured the release of around 100.
The Nigerian government announced the release of 130 more students on December 21, with a presidential spokesman saying: “None Left in Captivity.”
With the government seemingly ending rescue efforts, the disparity between the figures provided by CAN, school authorities, and rescued teachers and staff generated controversy.
In addition, US President Donald Trump alleged that there were mass killings of Christians amounting to a “genocide” and threatened military intervention.
However, the Catholic Church said on Thursday that about 35 students who either escaped or had not been abducted in the first place did not show up for a headcount immediately after the kidnapping.
“Immediately after the incident, a headcount was conducted, and a total of three hundred and fifteen (315) persons were initially unaccounted for,” Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, the bishop of Kontagora, said in a statement.
“By Sunday, 23 November 2025, it was confirmed that fifty (50) of those earlier listed as unaccounted for had escaped and been reunited with their parents, thereby reducing the number to two hundred and sixty five (265) persons still unaccounted for.”
According to Yohanna, the 35 students later showed up during a second round of headcounts. He said some of the students fled into nearby bushes and did not return to the school before the initial headcount was taken, while some parents did not present their children for verification.
The accounting may have been complicated by the children’s homes being scattered across swathes of rural settlements, sometimes requiring three or four hours of travel by motorbike to reach their remote villages, a United Nations source told AFP.
Yohanna insisted that the “discrepancies were not in any way intended to mislead the public or cause unnecessary panic.”
“They resulted from genuine difficulties encountered in a rapidly evolving, highly sensitive, and emotionally charged situation,” he said.
