BERNIE SANDERS HAS suspended his bid to become the next president of the United States. 

The 78-year-old held a staff conference call today when he “announced that he is suspending his campaign for president,” his aides said in a statement.

He was in the running to be the Democratic candidate in the US presidential election taking place later this year. Sanders previously challenged Hillary Clinton for the nomination in 2016. 

He said that “while the campaign ends, the struggle for justice continues on”. 

The Senator became the frontrunner for the nomination early this year only to be eclipsed by Joe Biden, who holds a substantial lead in the all-important race for delegates who choose the nominee.

Speaking to the public in an online video this afternoon, Sanders thanked his supporters and campaign staff before announcing his suspension of the bid for president. 

He said the “path toward victory is virtually impossible” after considering the decision for the past few weeks. 

“Please know that I do not make this decision lightly,” Sanders said, adding that it was ” very difficult and painful”. 

“We are a grassroots, multi-racial, multi-generational movement which has always believed that real change does not come from the top on down, but from the bottom on up.”

“I congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man, who I will work with to progress our ideas forward,” he said. 

Sanders said through his support of Biden, the Democrats will “go forward to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history”. 

President Trump said on Twitter that the campaign ended “like the Democrats & the DNC wanted”.

“The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!”

With reporting by Orla Dwyer