Cenk Uygur drops long-shot presidential bid

Progressive media personality Cenk Uygur told The Hill on Wednesday that he is ending his long-shot Democratic presidential bid. 

“The Young Turks” host, who was born in Turkey and is therefore not eligible to become president due to the Constitution’s “Natural Born Citizen” Clause, had attempted to launch a legal battle to gain ballot access across the country.

“Look, we needed a couple of miracles,” Uygur said in a “The Young Turks” interview later Wednesday. “This was an act of desperation to try to change the course of this campaign because Biden I was positive was going to lose.”

Uygur acknowledged that his legal battle found little success, but he said the stage is set for future naturalized citizens who choose to challenge the presidential requirement. 

“I got caught trying,” he said.

Uygur attacked Biden from the left during his campaign, warning that Biden could not defeat former President Trump in a 2024 election rematch.

“[Biden] is not going to win,” Uygur said during his campaign announcement in October. “It should not have been me, it should have been somebody else, but unfortunately it was not anyone else. There’s only four months left. We must change course. He has at best a 10 percent chance of winning. I’m running as a proxy. I am running to win. But I am also running as a proxy for any other candidate.”

Uygur raised more than $425,000 during his campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

A one-time California congressional candidate, Uygur attained 6.6 percent of the vote in a race for the 25th District in 2020.

Uygur, a former MSNBC commentator, and author Marianne Williamson were the only main candidates challenging Biden in the Democratic primary. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) dropped out of the primary earlier Wednesday.

Uygur added that he will resume his full-time host duties at “The Young Turks,” which were limited due to his candidacy.

Updated at 7:01 p.m. EST.