Bash: Buttigieg Dropping Out Means ‘It’s Time to Consolidate’ Around Biden

Monday on CNN’s “New Day,” network political correspondent Dana Bash weighed in on former South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s announcement that he was suspending his presidential campaign following a poor showing in South Carolina.

Bash said although Buttigieg is not yet endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden, he is “making clear that it’s time to consolidate” around him.

“What Pete Buttigieg did was try to lead the way,” Bash told CNN. “But he’s saying, without using these words, ‘I’m the guy who won Iowa. I came from nowhere with a name nobody could pronounce, with no national base, no national and natural fundraising base. And look at how far I came. And yet, I understand the reality of math. I don’t see a path forward.'”

She continued, “And so, the signal he is giving to others, including somebody with a lot of money, the deepest pockets in the world, Mike Bloomberg, is, ‘OK, guys. It’s time. Let’s pull back.’ He’s not actually endorsing Joe Biden. I can tell you that there is a lot of encouragement — people begging him to do so from around Biden world — but he’s making clear that it’s time to consolidate.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent