‘It’s important to know when it’s not your time’: Kirsten Gillibrand announces she is dropping out of the 2020 Democratic presidential race

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

• Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York announced Wednesday afternoon she is dropping her 2020 presidential campaign.
• "I wanted you to hear it from me first," Gillibrand said in a pre-recorded video, "that after more than eight incredible months, I am ending my presidential campaign. I know this isn’t the result that we wanted. We wanted to win this race."
• Gillibrand said in an interview with The New York Times that she had yet to decide on which of the remaining 20 candidates she would endorse, but noted that a woman candidate may be a step in the right direction for the US.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York announced she is dropping her 2020 presidential campaign on Wednesday afternoon.

"I wanted you to hear it from me first," Gillibrand said in a pre-recorded video, "that after more than eight incredible months, I am ending my presidential campaign. I know this isn’t the result that we wanted. We wanted to win this race."

"But it’s important to know when it’s not your time, and to know you can best serve your community and country," Gillibrand added in the video. "I believe I can best serve by helping to unite us to beat Donald Trump in 2020."

Read more: Kirsten Gillibrand ran for president in 2020. Here’s everything we know about the former candidate and how she stacked up against the competition.

The senator was most known for running a platform of fighting against sexual misconduct, paid family leave, women’s rights, and Medicare for All.

During the course of her campaign, she raised enough donations and poll numbers to qualify for the initial Democratic primary debates, but had yet to qualify for the upcoming debate in September. Her campaign raised roughly $3 million in the first quarter of 2019, but raised $700,000 less in the following quarter.

Gillibrand joins four other Democratic candidate who have dropped out of the race in recent weeks: Rep. Eric Swawell of California, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

Gillibrand said in an interview with The New York Times that she had yet to decide on which of the remaining 20 candidates she would endorse, but noted that a woman candidate may be a step in the right direction for the US.

"I think that women have a unique ability to bring people together and heal this country," Gillibrand said in The Times. "I think a woman nominee would be inspiring and exciting."

NOW WATCH: Fox News pundits are using white supremacist language tied to ‘The Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory

See Also:

• The 2020 Democratic field is slowly narrowing. Elizabeth Warren supporters tell us why they think she can go the distance.
• Don’t buy into the hype that Joe Biden is necessarily the most electable Democrat
• Trump tried to pin the Dow’s latest plunge on a little-known Democrat dropping out of the 2020 presidential race

SEE ALSO: Kirsten Gillibrand ran for president in 2020. Here’s everything we know about the former candidate and how she stacked up against the competition.

Source: Business Insider – dchoi@businessinsider.com (David Choi)