>> Julián Castro has announced that he is suspending his campaign for president.
He has decided to end his presidential bid following a crowded democratic primary as
we all know.
Where he failed to garner enough financial support or enough support in the polls.
And he released a video explaining this in a little more detail, take a look.
>> It's time for the Democratic Party to change the way that we do our presidential nominating
process, I'm so proud of the campaign we've run together.
We've shaped the conversation on so many important issues in this race.
Stood up for the most vulnerable people and given a voice to those who are often forgotten.
But with only a month until the Iowa caucuses and given the circumstances of this campaign
season I've determined that it simply isn't our time.
So, today it's with a heavy heart and with profound gratitude that I will suspend my
campaign for president.
>> So he shared that video on Twitter, and he also included a tweet that read, it's with
profound gratitude to all of our supporters that I suspend my campaign for president today.
I'm so proud of everything we've accomplished together, I'm going to keep fighting for an
America where everyone counts.
I hope you'll join me in that fight.
Now, he was the head of HUD under the Obama administration and to be quite honest with
you, that's nothing to write home about, especially with the housing crisis that we have throughout
the country, the rise in homelessness.
However, I do think that he provided some important points and some important topics
when he was on the debate stage.
He really did draw attention to a very real issue we have in America when it comes to
police brutality.
He certainly did attack Biden from the left so I appreciated that as well.
>> So first a goofy points, I like how he suspended his campaign with a smile too.
Like I'm suspending my campaign I know it's old footage but it was just a little bit of
fun.
And I assume that his brother Woaquin Castro's beard is now also suspended.
Because his brother is a US congressman and his campaign manager.
They're twins and so everybody kept confusing them especially in the spin room.
So his brother grew a beard so they'd stop calling him Julian.
>> That's hilarious.
>> So Joaquin, you get to finally shave your beard.
Congrats okay.
Obviously not the result that you wanted.
I'm gonna get into the politics of it in a second.
But first the most important point, he actually did a great job.
It's not just whether you win or not it's what do you do in the campaign.
And Julian Castro pushed the party to the left.
And he was fantastic in fighting for expanded liberty for everyone and that's what progressives
do.
And he fought for justice and especially on the issue of immigration.
He was more progressive than almost anyone else in the race and he moved the national
conversation, which I think is monumentally important.
And the most important thing you could do other than winning a presidential campaign.
So where as a lot of people ran on, hey I'd like to be president and I have the exact
same policies as everybody else in the race.
He was bold, and he ran with an actual agenda, and I think he made a difference.
>> Yeah, look, I think that he wasn't my preferred candidate, obviously I want someone who has
a long track record.
A very consistent track record of progressive ideology, and someone who pushes for progressive
policies, and that's Bernie Sanders.
However, I do think that it's important to note that there are people who might not get
our endorsement on that debate stage who bring up important points right?
>> Yep.
>> So look, I've said repeatedly on this show that while I don't have a Problem with UBI
as part of a more comprehensive economic proposal.
I don't agree with the way Andrew Yang wants to go forward with it, right.
However, he brings up all sorts of issues on the debate stage that I absolutely love,
and he makes the conversation better, right?
Julian Castro did the same thing.
There are other candidates who do the same thing.
It's not just about having the person you like on that debate stage, it's about having
people who bring up the important points and move the party to the left.
And I think you're right, when it comes to certain issues, whether it's, Policing in
America or immigration.
Julian Castro did bring the party to the left.
>> Yeah, and he also fought really valiantly on reparations as well, made a lot of good
points there.
And to your point, Anna, another outsider who did a great job on that was Marianne Williamson.
There's a little bit of news about her today.
She has apparently fired her national staff.
It's probably a prelude to dropping out as well, but on debate stage she made a wonderful
point, I thought she made a lot of good points.
And there's a lot of snark about her because she is spiritual and the national media is
so deeply cynical about everything.
So they're like she's trying to change the world for the positive.
Obviously, we despise her right?
But she set on the issue, a very serious issue of reparations.
A debt is owed and I see that is both factually true and numerically true if you look at the
history of what happened with slavery, Jim Crowe, red lining, etc.
So I thought she made an important contribution, as in Julian Castro.
So I love the outsider voices.
Julian Castro not really an outsider, but still did a great job of going to the left
in this context.
Now, to get a little cynical about the political maneuvering, right, because that's also reality,
and that's also part of the equation here.
He challenged Beto O'Rourke in the debates.
He also challenged Buttigieg and Biden.
Now what that normally means is that he is in a lower tier.
And it's not really even fair to call him lower tier, he was the middle tier of candidates.
That might mean that you are angling for a vice-presidential spot.
The one candidate he almost never criticized and it had actually a lot of praise for was
Elizabeth Warren.
And if you're looking at it just strictly from a political point of view, that's a fairly
logical play.
And if I was advising him just based on politics, I'd probably advise him to do the same.
>> Yeah, I would actually like to go to the last graphic to the story because it's a tweet
that Castro put out in regard to Elizabeth Ward.
And he said, Warren has got a great team over there.
She's fantastic.
I think she has done a very impressive job on the campaign trail.
I think right now she's doing a fantastic job of fusing her biography with her policies.
And so it's funny because I'm usually the type of person who's skeptical of anything
that anyone says on social media especially politicians.
But I didn't think about the possibility of Castro angling for a position in her cabinet
if she won.
>> Or VP.
>> Or VP, yeah.
>> Because and why Warren is sort of saying this for example if he's going left.
Well Warren is more likely to pick a male VP.
Bernie Sanders is more likely to pick a female VP.
They're both probably going to look at minorities, not necessarily, but that certainly would
be something they would consider.
So Julian Castro would be perfect for Elizabeth Warren running mate.
And so him heading in that direction rhetorically during the his run is logical.
Look if it was because he didn't mean his positions then I would be very much against
it, right.
But if he means it and then he angles for something that's logical politically, I can
live with that as long as your policies are right.
And driving the conversation in a positive direction which he clearly was.
>> Yeah, I see a lot of people responding to his Twitter announcement about his suspension
or suspending his campaign with you should.
You should endorse Bernie, right?
>> Uh-huh.
>> And then I'm like, is that a possibility?
Maybe, I mean who knows but.
>> Well, I mean a lot of the folks who dropped evetually are likely to endorse people.
>> Mm-hm.
>> So, if I was him and all I cared about was politics, I would do that yet.
>> Mm-hm.
>> Cuz he's probably still, angling for Warren and if he's gonna endorse anyone it would
probably be her.
But at this point Bernie's leading a war and is it?
So if all you care about is the politics, you'd hold a little longer.
>> Yeah.