John Hickenlooper is throwing exiting staffers under the bus amid reports his campaign is almost broke

Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper isn't having a great post-debate week.

After failing to make much of an impression during the first round of Democratic debates, where he wasn't even recognized by security as a candidate, Hickenlooper on Monday announced a shake-up, with his campaign manager and spokesperson among those to depart, Politico reports. Now, both Politico and CNN are reporting that the former governor was last month urged by senior aides to drop out of the race and run for Senate instead, with Politico describing his campaign as being in "shambles" and reporting that he will "likely run out of money completely in about a month."

Hickenlooper's aides reportedly recommended he drop out after it was announced that the Democratic National Committee had raised the requirements to qualify for presidential debates beginning in September. Hickenlooper, it seems, will almost certainly not meet the new threshold, as candidates need to have 130,000 donors to qualify, and CNN reports Hickenlooper only has 13,000.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday, Hickenlooper publicly threw his old campaign staff under the bus, saying, "These campaigns are long, hard campaigns, and you don't always get it right with the first team." When asked why he has had a tough time selling his message so far, Hickenlooper named several factors, including "the team." A post-debate Quinnipiac poll released on Tuesday afternoon showed Hickenlooper polling at less than one percent.