Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel on Tuesday officially ended his quixotic “campaign” for the Democratic nomination for president and threw his support behind Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont.

In the announcement, Team Gravel stood firm in its belief that he never had a chance of winning and that his sole purpose in running was to push the Democratic Party further to the left — most notably on military adventurism.

“I am proud and honored to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for presidency of the United States,” Mr. Gravel said in a video.

Mr. Gravel said voters have a “simple choice” between “Democratic socialism of Bernie Sanders that benefit all Americans or we can have Republican socialism that benefits the 1 percent, and leads us to a constant state of war.”

The former senator also had kind words for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has railed against “regime change wars.”

Mr. Gravel, who touted a No More Wars slogan, failed to qualify for the presidential debates.

In a press release, his campaign said that he entered the race at the behest of “two New York teenagers, David Oks and Henry Williams, who served as his campaign manager and chief of staff, respectively.”

“He ran with the explicit goal not of winning but of moving the conversation to the left — and serving as an exponent for his long-held opposition to war, the military-industrial complex, and the corporate state,” the campaign said.

“I am proud and honored to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for the presidency of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/Y7uf8ebbhD — Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) August 6, 2019

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