(CNN) Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on Thursday ended her presidential campaign and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden.

"I know Vice President Biden and his wife and am grateful to have called his son Beau, who also served in the National Guard, a friend," Gabbard said in a statement. "Although I may not agree with the Vice President on every issue, I know that he has a good heart and is motivated by his love for our country and the American people."

Gabbard had backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016.

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The congresswoman said Tuesday's primary results, when Biden swept the races in Arizona, Florida and Illinois, made it clear that voters had picked Biden to take on President Donald Trump in the general election.

Biden said he was "grateful" for Gabbard's support.

".⁦‪@TulsiGabbard⁩ has put her life on the line in service of this country and continues to serve with honor today," the former vice president said on Twitter. "I'm grateful to have her support and look forward to working with her to restore honor and decency to the White House."

Gabbard also pointed to the coronavirus pandemic as a reason for leaving the race and said Americans and the global community needed to work together to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"I feel that the best way I can be of service at this time is to continue to work for the health and wellbeing of the people of Hawaii and our country in Congress, and to stand ready to serve in uniform should the Hawaii National Guard be activated," she said.

Gabbard launched her own campaign in January 2019. But it was almost immediately beset by internal dysfunction. Her first campaign manager only learned of her announcement, live on CNN, from a reporter calling to ask about it.

The troubles mounted from there as Gabbard never was able to gain a foothold with the Democratic Party's progressive left, which largely stuck with Sanders. In October, Gabbard announced she would not run for another term as one of Hawaii's two House members, leaving her political future in doubt after the 2020 elections.

Former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard celebrates after she was elected to Congress in 2012. She represents Hawaii's 2nd District. Gabbard was born April 12, 1981, in American Samoa. She's seen here with her mother, Carol. Her father, Mike, became a Hawaii state senator in 2006. A young Gabbard plays in Tafuna, American Samoa. She and her family moved to Hawaii in 1983. Gabbard, lower left, poses for a family portrait in 1984. She is the fourth of five children. Gabbard reads to elementary school students in 2002. That year, she was elected to Hawaii's House of Representatives. At 21, she was the youngest woman ever elected to the state legislature. Gabbard enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003, completing her basic training between legislative sessions. The next year, her unit was activated and she served with a field medical unit in Iraq. Gabbard poses in front of the Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2005. Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council in 2010. Gabbard speaks on stage at the Democratic National Convention in September 2012. At the time, she was running for Congress. Gabbard is congratulated after winning her congressional race in November 2012. Gabbard and House Speaker John Boehner watch the Congressional Women's Softball Game in June 2013. Gabbard was the keynote speaker for Veterans Day ceremonies in Honolulu in November 2013. Gabbard visits India in 2015. After winning re-election in 2014, Gabbard re-enacts her swearing-in with House Speaker John Boehner. The Hawaii Army National Guard promoted Gabbard to major in 2015. Gabbard and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wave to supporters during a campaign event in Miami in March 2016. Gabbard left the Democratic National Committee to endorse Sanders' presidential bid. Gabbard speaks at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016. Gabbard speaks to veterans at a Sioux tribal welcome meeting in Fort Yates, North Dakota, in December 2016. In May 2017, Gabbard and Sanders sit in the Capitol's Senate Reception Room before a news conference introducing legislation that would incrementally raise the nation's minimum wage to $15 an hour. Gabbard visits Syria in 2017. She told CNN's Jake Tapper that she met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during her unannounced four-day trip. Gabbard and her husband, Abraham Williams, attend a charity event in Los Angeles in January 2019. Gabbard announces her presidential run in February 2019. Gabbard participates in CNN's Democratic debates in July 2019. Gabbard orders a veggie corn dog at the Iowa State Fair in August 2019. Gabbard, left, takes the stage with other Democratic candidates at a debate in October 2019. Gabbard attends a Martin Luther King Jr. rally in Columbia, South Carolina, in January 2020.

An Iraq War veteran, Gabbard was widely regarded as rising star within by the party establishment before the 2016 primary, when she resigned from her post as a Democratic National Committee vice chair to endorse Sanders. During the current campaign, she blasted the party, denouncing it as "warmongering" as she promised to remove the country from a host of foreign military conflicts.

Despite never cracking the top tier of candidates, the Hawaii congresswoman attracted the ire of Hillary Clinton, who in October suggested, without naming names or offering evidence, that Gabbard was essentially a Russian asset.

"I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate," Clinton told former Obama adviser David Plouffe on a podcast. "She's the favorite of the Russians."

Gabbard, who has repeatedly said she will not run for president outside the Democratic Party, filed a defamation lawsuit against Clinton in January, alleging that the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee "lied" about her purported ties to the Russian government.

Though she leaves the primary without having made much of a dent in the vote, Gabbard's searing attack on Kamala Harris during a mid-summer debate in 2019 brought renewed attention to the California senator and former state attorney general's criminal justice record.

This story was updated to include more information about Gabbard's campaign.