New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, is ending his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

De Blasio struggled to gain traction in a sprawling field of Democrats seeking the presidency. He announced his decision in an MSNBC interview on Friday.

De Blasio launched his bid in May, but his campaign largely failed to take off.

De Blasio said he feels he has contributed all he can “to this primary election”. He told MSNBC’s Morning Joe show “it’s clearly not my time”.

He tweeted an abrupt announcement a little later on Friday morning.

It’s true: I’m ending my candidacy for president. But our fight on behalf of working people is far from over. https://t.co/wlqhNmcZLv — Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) September 20, 2019

Donald Trump was more fulsome. In a tweet dripping with sarcasm, the president wrote that New York City is “devastated” over the decision, and reminded the public that De Blasio had been registering 0% support compared with the other Democratic candidates in the race.

Oh no, really big political news, perhaps the biggest story in years! Part time Mayor of New York City, @BilldeBlasio, who was polling at a solid ZERO but had tremendous room for growth, has shocking dropped out of the Presidential race. NYC is devastated, he’s coming home! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2019

Leading contenders so far are Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris.

De Blasio failed to cross the threshold set by the Democratic party to be allowed onto the stage of the third Democratic primary debate, held for the 10 top candidates in Houston, Texas, last week.

His campaign never went down well with most New Yorkers and, although he performed reasonably well in the first two debates, in Miami and Detroit, his campaign never caught alight.

Shortly after he launched his campaign, a poll found that 76% of New York City voters didn’t think he should run for president.