EXCLUSIVE: This is how it went down. @KamalaHarris called in to a conference call at 12:45p st.. Dozens of staffers huddled in their Baltimore office, others called in. She said, "Here's the deal. We don't have enough money to continue with the campaign. And so I'm going (thread)
to suspend the campaign today. And lemme tell you. I've been over - especially over the course of Thanksgiving weekend pretty much working around the clock - I was up until 2'o clock this morning trying to figure out how we could possibly make this work. I took stock over
the Thanksgiving weekend with my family. I ran an audit of the campaign's finances....and where we are. And I thought about this long and hard. And I have made the most difficult decision of my life. But we don't have enough money to be viable.
So today I'm going to suspend the campaign. Our campaign....you guys are extraordinary. Extraordinary. And I'll give you more information. But I'll tell you- I'm in New York today. I'm coming to Baltimore. I'm coming to South Carolina. I'm coming to Nevada. I'm coming to Iowa.
I will come see all of you this week. I'm going to come to every one of our states. And be with you in person. Because I want you to know from me directly in person how much I care about you, and how extraordinary you have been. This has been personal for you. And I know that
and you've worked so hard. And you've done such good work. And ours has been a campaign- we said this from day one- that has been one about empowering people and letting people know they will never have to fight alone and we will fight for them. And that's not going to stop.
That's who we are by our very nature. Whether our campaign is active or not. And it has been one of the greatest honors of my life to be your candidate. You have lifted me up. You have poured your souls into this campaign. You have moved. You have been sleeping on floors and
couches. And I do know that we are in the best position to go against Trump and win. I know that our agenda and our message, & our ability to unify the party and the country is the best and most of all because I have you guys and you poured your hearts and soul into this campaign
....but ultimately the resources just aren't here. And I can't self fund a campaign. And I don't have - I didn't bring millions into the campaign transferring it in. And I could just not in good faith tell you guys and tell our supporters & volunteers that we have a path to win
if we don't. And I know this is so tough to hear and I know you don't want to hear this. And I honestly don't want to have to say any of this. And it was a very tough decision. But we cannot minimize the importance of what we have done. We have put so many issues
on the table. We were the first to put the issue of raising teacher pay on the table. We were the first to talk about executive actions on things like gun violence. We were the first to talk about executive - aggressive federal action to stop abortion laws in states
that are trying to attack women's rights to choose. We were the first to truly speak to the experience of black women on a presidential debate stage and the importance of them to the success of the party. We were one of the first to talk about children in a way that creates
the priority around them and their future. And you know that there is no limit to who can lead & hold a position of power. So I just want you guys to know that the decisions that I had to make does not change anything in terms of our commitment to these issues, and our fight.
And I know people will have more very specific questions about what this means in terms of salaries and all that which has also been top of my mind as we made this decision. And so nothing is shutting down tomorrow. Laphonza is going to be in charge of holding a call and talking
through the next steps so please don't be worried about that. And in the days and weeks that are coming ahead & months there will be more questions and we will always have an ability to talk about where we are and also what we could have done differently but I wanted to say that
lemme be clear where I stand. I know I have the best campaign staff in the business. And any candidate would be lucky to have such a professional hardworking staff from Baltimore to Iowa to South Carolina to Nevada to New Hampshire to California. And I cannot express enough how
grateful I am to each & every one of you. And as difficult as this day is, we need to wake up tomorrow and unite with our democratic field and get ready to take on you know who: Donald Trump. So let's try to end our campaign with grace & make everyone proud of the race we've run
& I'm so proud of each of you. So as soon as we wrap up this announcement here in New York - I'm going to head to Baltimore tonight or tomorrow morning - as soon as I can get there. And immediately thereafter I'm coming to Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada and California all
this week. & my last point is this. I may not be a candidate for president but I am NOT going away & I am NOT going to be silent. & you cannot be silent either. There's still so many communities & people in our country who must be fought for, who must be uplifted, & whose issues
must be heard. And they continue to need us. And you continue to inspire them and uplift them. And so always remember your power. It is immense.
I am so thankful.
I am so thankful.
