"So while we are winning the ideological battle and while we are winning the support of so many young people and working people throughout the country, I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful," Sanders said. "And so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign."

WASHINGTON, April 8  -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race Wednesday, paving the way for the party's only remaining candidate Joe Biden to become the Democratic nominee.

In a speech live streamed to supporters in the morning, Sanders said his "path toward victory is virtually impossible," with some 300 fewer delegate votes than Biden's.

"So while we are winning the ideological battle and while we are winning the support of so many young people and working people throughout the country, I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful," he said. "And so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign."

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park of Chicago, the United States, on March 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

Senator from the state of Vermont and a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Sanders has been lagging behind former Vice President Biden in several past primaries, starting in South Carolina in late February and culminating in the crucial states of Michigan and Florida last month, before the coronavirus outbreak disrupted the election process.

While admitting he cannot continue a "campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour," Sanders insisted that he and his supporters have won on the ideological front.

"Few would deny that over the course of the past five years our movement has won the ideological struggle," said the 78-year-old.