Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson signaled on Wednesday he was quitting the Republican presidential race, leaving three candidates facing Donald Trump as the party establishment struggled to find a way to halt the outspoken businessman.
Carson, a conservative who briefly led opinion polls among Republicans earlier in the campaign, said he did not “see a political path forward” after performing poorly in this week’s Super Tuesday nominating contests. He said he would not participate in a Republican debate on Thursday.
Despite a push by some mainstream Republicans to try to block Trump from winning the nomination, the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers will not deploy their $400 million political arsenal to attack him in the presidential primary campaign.
As a conservative black Republican, Carson, 64, stood out in the mostly white Republican Party, but his campaign foundered amid staff infighting and questions about Carson’s familiarity with foreign policy.
His departure is unlikely to have a major impact on the fight among Republicans to become the party’s candidate in the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.
Reuters/Ipsos polling last month showed Carson supporters would mostly likely be split if he dropped out between Trump and U.S. Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas.
Trump consolidated his lead in the Republican race with a string of victories on Tuesday that moved him closer to becoming the nominee. The 69-year-old New York real estate tycoon won seven states from Massachusetts to the conservative Deep South.
His victories compounded the problem for a party whose leaders are critical of many of Trump’s positions and values and skeptical he can defeat the likely Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Trump has showered insults on rivals and is facing strong party disapproval over his ideas to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, deport 11 million illegal immigrants and temporarily bar Muslims from entering the country.
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