Senator Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the race for president on Thursday, ending speculation about the future of her campaign after she posted disappointing results across the country on Super Tuesday.
Reaction quickly poured in. Former campaign rivals who expressed respect for Warren included former Senator Bernie Sanders, South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, former vice president Joe Biden, and Andrew Yang.
Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle class families. Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in people's lives. We needed her voice in this race, and we need her continued work in the Senate.
— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 5, 2020
Senator @ewarren has made fighting on behalf of working families her life's work. Meeting urgency with moral courage, she’s the kind of leader Americans are fortunate to have, and I’m honored to have run alongside her.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) March 5, 2020
Edward Markey, Warren’s colleague in the state Democratic Party and in the US Senate, reacted to her decision to end her presidential campaign with an expression of respect.
“Elizabeth - I am so proud of you,” Markey wrote on his Twitter account. “The campaign that you ran fully embodied the person I am so proud to call my friend and partner in the Senate.”
Advertisement
He offered his support to Warren’s campaign workers and supporters, and also issued a broad call to keep the ideas that Warren championed during the campaign on the national political agenda.
“Elizabeth Warren has made an invaluable contribution to the presidential primary and the country,” he wrote. “Her joyful persistence in the face of America’s toughest problems showed us that it is possible to choose hope over fear and courage over cynicism...This is not the end. We will keep fighting for big structural change.”
Markey said he will now take time to consider who he will back among the remaining presidential candidates. Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are currently leading in the delegate counts.
"Donald Trump is the worst president in American history,'' Markey wrote. “I am committed to defeating Donald Trump on Election Day, and I will support the party’s ultimate nominee.”
Senator Bernie Sanders also had kind words for Warren.
.@ewarren has taken on the most powerful corporate interests because she cares about those who have been left behind. Without her, the progressive movement would not be nearly as strong as it is today. I know that she'll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 5, 2020
US Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who endorsed Warren, focused on the lesson of Warren’s campaign for girls across the country, including his daughter, Ellie.
Advertisement
"To my Senator, my professor, and most importantly my friend [Warren,] he tweeted. “You made this race better, our country better. Most importantly you let millions of little girls, just like Ellie, know that running for President is what girls do.”
President Donald J. Trump, who has waged a Twitter war with Warren over the years and has labeled her “Pochontas” due to the senator’s claim of Native American ancestry, tweeted that she should have left the race before Super Tuesday. Failing to do so, he wrote, cost her liberal colleague, Bernie Sanders, delegates, Trump wrote.
Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren, who was going nowhere except into Mini Mike’s head, just dropped out of the Democrat Primary...THREE DAYS TOO LATE. She cost Crazy Bernie, at least, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Probably cost him the nomination! Came in third in Mass.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2020
Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, tweeted that he considered Warren the smartest of his 99 other colleagues in the Senate.
“Every Senator tends to think they are the smartest person in the room, but it’s only true for Elizabeth Warren,” Schatz tweeted. “Looking forward to her continued progressive leadership in the Senate, and wherever else she chooses to go.”
Jason Kander, a Missouri Democrat and military veteran, wrote that he considered Warren to be one of the best people he has met in his life.
Warren "is one of the purest souls and flat-out best human beings I’ve met in politics. At times when I’ve been down, she’s picked me up,'' he wrote. “Not only politically, but as a true friend. Her passion and her humor continue to be a blessing to our democracy.”
Among the Massachusetts congressional delegation, US Rep. Lori Trahan posted a photo of her standing next to Warren, both of them smiling broadly.
Advertisement
Warren "brought energy, intelligence, and grit to this primary. Our country and our party are better off because of her leadership on policy. I’m so proud to have been on @TeamWarren,'' Trahan wrote. “Her work on behalf of working people isn’t even close to finished.”
.@ewarren brought energy, intelligence, and grit to this primary. Our country and our party are better off because of her leadership on policy. I’m so proud to have been on @TeamWarren. Her work on behalf of working people isn’t even close to finished. pic.twitter.com/GDvwZqcGK7
— Lori Trahan (@LoriTrahanMA) March 5, 2020
Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor who also pursued the Democratic nomination, wrote that her Warren and her staff were “committed to big ideas, grassroots organizing and fighting for what you believe in.. I am so proud of my friend...We need her leadership to win - - and to deliver real change when we do.”
Another pursuer of the Democratic candidacy, Yang, described Warren as “gracious, warm, brilliant and genuine. Everyone knows you were in the race to make things better for everyday people. You will continue to fight because it is who you are.”
Elizabeth Warren is an amazing leader. Always gracious, warm, brilliant and genuine. Everyone knows you were in the race to make things better for everyday people. You will continue to fight because it is who you are. pic.twitter.com/GkHiiIM4Hb
— Andrew Yang🧢 (@AndrewYang) March 5, 2020
But there was one Warren supporter that didn’t take the news so well. Bailey, Warren’s golden retriever, seemed to act out on Thursday:
Bailey legit just swiped someone’s burrito. pic.twitter.com/MWr6ZeiJa2
— Gabrielle Farrell 💫 President Warren 2020 (her/s) (@FarrellGabriell) March 5, 2020
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe. Christina Prignano can be reached at christina.prignano@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @cprignano.