[applause] put forward the most ambitious call to National Service in a generation. All 33 million Young Americans to consider serving here at home to tackle the Biggest Challenges of today, like Climate Change. Even helped meas face a few of my own fears. For the first time in my life, i talked publicly about dealing with posttraumatic stress from my four combat tours in iraq. About how i sought help for my posttraumatic stress. Help that has made me a better public servant, better husband, and a better father. And our team put forward a plan that will end the stigma around Mental Health, the same stigma that kept me silent for so long. And that catch every president ial candidate before me from talking about Mental Health struggles themselves. Campaign hasthis been about. The courage to be honest. About the challenges that we face. And im so proud of what we have done. But today, i want to use this opportunity with all of you here , to announce that i am ending my campaign for president. Does campaign is not ending the way i had hoped, i am leaving this race knowing that we raised issues that are vitally important to the American People and our future. I could not have done any of this without my amazing wife, liz, and daughter amy behind agree. I could not have done it without my Extraordinary Team who worked incredibly hard for a longshot candidate because they believed in me and our mission like they believe in our country. And i definitely could not have done it without everyone who supported me and came out to events and donated and volunteered for this campaign all across the country. Each of you reminds me of whatre and every day truly makes america great. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. [applause] while this is the end of my campaign, it is certainly not the end of our efforts. I will once again be running for congress and the sixth district of massachusetts. [cheering applause] my home, and i cannot wait to get back at it. I will relaunch my organization serve america, which helped elect 21 service driven democrats in tough districts across america. [applause] to work with all of you, to keep the house, to flip the senate, and to win back statehouses across the country next november. Because those down ballot races are just as important as the president ial one. [applause] all, i will be campaigning my but off for whoever wins our nomination for 2020. [applause] [applause] donald trump is going to be harder to be than most people think. But we can and must beat him. Because our country, our values, and our future depend on it. As a party, we need to spend these next months doing everything we can to determine who our strongest nobody will be. As we do so, we cannot be distracted by the latest outrage on trade debt on twitter or the reality politics the latest outrage on twitter or the reality politics of the day. We need to focus on what will win the trust of voters, all kinds, obama trump voters and disaffected republicans. And beat the hateful politics of donald trump. Because you can be a democrat or republican or an independent. But as an american, you know that we are better than this. And were going to prove it at the about box in 2020. Box in 2020. Lot my mentoring colleges, reverend peter gomez said that hope is the stuff that gets us through and beyond when the worst that can happen happens. Often times these past couple of years and even the past couple of weeks, it is felt like the worst that can happen in america has happened. But when i travel the country over the last several months, i have found hope. I have found hope in the veterans i met who are working to end the stigma around Mental Health, by sharing their stories for the very first time. I found hope in the kids, who are walking out of school, demanding progress on Climate Change and guns. I found hope in the teachers and the reporters who are striking for basic pay. I found hope in the women who have been marching for basic respect. I have found hope in the amazing diverse, talented group of leaders we have running for president. And i find hope here in this room. And in rooms like it across america. Or democrats are banding , tother our shared values beat donald trump and all the republicans who do his bidding. And to fight for who we are. Though i often say that the men and women ive served with in iraq i saw the best of america and the worst of circumstances. In the midst of a war many of us disagreed with. A war i spoke out against. We always knew that despite the failures in washington, we were fighting for each other. We had each others backs. And you know, i have seen the same thing on this campaign. We believe in our values so much that we were willing to fight for them. And people like that are doing it across america. I have seen americans from all backgrounds, all races, religions, standing up and fighting for our values because they believe in our country. Even when it lets them down. Especially when it lets them down. Because that is when the country needs us most. We have a lot of work to do. And some tough months ahead of us. But we can do this. We wake up tomorrow and the america that we make. And im so proud to be making a better with all of you. Thank you very much. [applause] announcer we will have Live Campaign 2020 coverage this afternoon. South bend indiana mayor and president ial candidate Pete Buttigieg is holding a town hall meeting at Nashua Community college in new hampshire. That is expected to start at 6 35 p. M. Eastern here on cspan. A quick reminder, you can follow our coverage online at cspan. Org, and listen with the free cspan radio app. Announcer campaign 2020. Watch our live coverage of the president ial candidates on the campaign trail. And make up your own mind. Cspans campaign 2020. Your unfiltered view of politics. Announcer cspans washington journal, live every day, with news, and policy issues that impact you. Coming up on saturday morning, harvey claire, professor and author of the millionaire was a soviet mole, the twisted life of david carr. He will be on to talk about the history of russians influence in american politics. Cassondra newby alexandra discusses the history of the first africans arriving in virginia at 400 years ago, in 1619. Be sure to watch cspans washington journal, live at 7 00 eastern saturday morning. Join the discussion. Announcer in 1979, a Small Network with unusual name will that a big idea, let yours make up their own minds. Cspan opened the doors to us in policymaking for all to see, bringing your unfiltered content from congress and beyond. A lot has changed in 40 years. Today that big ideas more