Jason Chaffetz: Gillibrand dropping out of 2020 race a 'realistic' decision

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand drops out of 2020 race

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ends her run for the White House.

The decision by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to exit the 2020 presidential race is beneficial to New York state and realistic for the lawmaker, according to Jason Chaffetz.

Gillibrand's decision shows her campaign failed to gain traction, Chaffetz claimed Wednesday on "The Five."

"It's a realistic viewpoint," he said. "She never caught on, didn't have a message that resonated."

"She can blame a lot of things -- it just did not work. I think it's better for her and New York and everybody else."

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND DROPS OUT OF 2020 PRESIDENTIAL RACE

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The New Yorker, who first joined the Senate after Hillary Clinton was nominated secretary of state by then-President Barack Obama, thanked her supporters on social media.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Gillibrand wrote.

"Now let's go beat Donald Trump and win back the Senate."

Adding to Chaffetz's reaction, host Dana Perino claimed some political observers in the state were beginning to express serious doubts about Gillibrand's presidential viability.

"There were people in New York starting to say, 'Excuse me, you know you're not going to become president, why don't you focus on being here at home?'" Perino said.

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In a separate video on Twitter, Gillibrand said she nonetheless wanted to win the party's nomination. "But it's important to know when it's not your time and to know how you can best serve your community and country."

She added, "I believe I can best serve by helping unite us to beat Donald Trump in 2020."

Prior to becoming senator, the 52-year-old was a Democratic U.S. congresswoman from an upstate district.

Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly contributed to this report.