Seth Moulton ended his Democratic presidential bid today, becoming the latest candidate to drop out of the race.
The Massachusetts congressman announced the end of his campaign an interview with the New York Times published Friday and had planned to announce the end of his bid in a speech to the Democratic National Committee today. He said he has no immediate plans to endorse another candidate, but he praised former Vice President Joe Biden. Moulton suggested most of the crowded presidential field has little chance of securing the Democratic presidential nomination outside of Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“I think it’s evident that this is now a three-way race between Biden, Warren and Sanders, and really it’s a debate about how far left the party should go,” Moulton said.
Moulton plans to relaunch his veterans and military-focused political action committee, Serve America.
A Marine Corps veteran who served multiple tours in Iraq, Moulton never gained momentum for his presidential campaign since announcing his candidacy in late April.
Moulton did not appear on the Democratic presidential debate stages in June or July due to low polling and poor fundraising. He raised about $1.2 million through the end of June, tens of millions behind top-tier candidates, and consistently polled at 0%.
Through his presidential campaign, Moulton condemned the Democratic Party’s move leftward, opened up about his challenges with post-traumatic stress disorder, and challenged former Biden to apologize for his Iraq War vote.
In May, Moulton said that the U.S. is not a socialist country and that a socialist candidate would not win the presidential race.
“There are elements of our party that are going too far toward socialism. The fact that I, as a Democrat, get asked now in interviews like this, ‘Are you a socialist?’ I mean, I never even imagined that a few years ago. Give me a break, I’m a Democrat, not a socialist,” Moulton said.
Later that month, Moulton revealed in an interview that he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I had some particular experiences or regrets from the war that I just thought about every day, and occasionally I’d have bad dreams or wake up in a cold sweat,” Moulton told Politico. “But because these experiences weren’t debilitating — I didn’t feel suicidal or completely withdrawn, and I was doing fine in school — it took me a while to appreciate that I was dealing with post-traumatic stress and I was dealing with an experience that a lot of other veterans have.”
After Biden reversed his stance in June to oppose the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being spent on abortion services, Moulton applauded his new stance and challenged Biden to say that his 2003 vote in support of invading Iraq was a mistake.
Bravo to @JoeBiden for doing the right thing and reversing his longstanding support for the Hyde Amendment. It takes courage to admit when you’re wrong, especially when those decisions affect millions of people.
Now do the Iraq War.
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) June 7, 2019
Moulton, a member of the House Armed Services and Budget committees, earned an endorsement in July from retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who led the International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan under President Barack Obama but resigned in 2010 following a Rolling Stone profile that included comments from him criticizing then-Vice President Joe Biden and other civilian officials.
“I’ve known him for years, it’s as much personal as political,” McChrystal said at the time. The retired general had previously endorsed Moulton’s 2014 congressional bid.
Moulton faces Democratic primary challengers for his congressional seat, including Salem City Councilor Lisa Peterson and Salem State University trustee Jamie Zahlaway Belsito.
