Former U.S. congressman Beto O'Rourke announced that he was dropping out of the Democratic primary presidential race via a statement posted on his Twitter account on Friday.

"Our campaign has been about seeing clearly, speaking honestly and acting decisively in the best interests of America," he claimed in the statement.

"Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully. My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee," he added.



Acknowledging this now is in the best interests of those in the campaign," O'Rourke continued, "it is in the best interests of this party as we seek to unify around a nominee; and it is in the best interests of the country."

He went on in the long statement to say that his mission to defeat President Donald Trump would transition to supporting whomever becomes the Democratic nominee.

"We will work to ensure that the Democratic nominee is successful in defeating Donald Trump in 2020. I can tell you firsthand from having the chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them, and I'm going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is.

O'Rourke's campaign was known for taking extreme positions, including gun confiscation, and the revocation of tax exemption status for organizations that do not support same sex marriage.

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