Michael Bloomberg says he'll keep running 'right to the bitter end'

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said Thursday he will “absolutely” stay in the 2020 race “right to the bitter end, as long as I have a chance.”

“Why would I spend all this money and all this time out of my life, and wear and tear, you know — which I love, incidentally. It reminds me of my three campaigns in New York for mayor, which I did like,” the billionaire former mayor said on MSNBC. “The difference here is I’ve got to fly from event to event, where there, I used to drive from event to event. But yeah, sure, I love it. I am going to stay right to the bitter end, as long as I have a chance.”

Bloomberg said he would drop out if front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wins a majority of delegates before this summer’s Democratic National Convention. But he vowed to remain “in it to win it” if Sanders only reaps a plurality of delegates.

“I’m running a race, and I’m behind with one lap to go,” Bloomberg said. “What, am I going to quit? No, you run harder.”

Bloomberg has not been on the ballot in early voting states and will face his first primaries on Super Tuesday next week. He turned in widely panned performances at the two most recent Democratic presidential debates, with his extreme wealth, mixed record as New York mayor and history of sexism at his media company coming under scrutiny.

The billionaire has spent an astronomical amount of money on his campaign: at least $409 million on television ads alone, as of last week. That’s more than both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spent in their 2016 primary and general election campaigns combined.

Bloomberg has only been in the Democratic race for four months.

• This article originally appeared on HuffPost.