US Senator Tim Scott announced on Sunday that he is withdrawing from the US presidential race, saying voters had given him a clear message of “not now.”
Tim Scott, who was running to become the first Black Republican president, had been struggling to rise above the pack in the party’s crowded field.
Polling in sixth place among Republican primary candidates, the 58-year-old had only 2.5 percent of the vote, according to the RealClearPolitics average of recent major opinion polls.
The South Carolina lawmaker told the Fox News program “Sunday Night in America”, “I am suspending my campaign. I think the voters who are the most remarkable people on the planet have been clear that they’re telling me: ‘Not now Tim.’”
Scott officially announced he was running for the Republican nomination in May after spending months visiting the states considered crucial to gaining early momentum in the contest.
During his campaign, he often emphasized his Christian faith and the conservative values he learned growing up in a poor, single-parent household.
Scott was one of five Republicans emerging in the third televised Republican debate last Wednesday as challengers for the party’s nomination sparred over Ukraine, China, abortion, and the future path of the party.
Scott said he had no interest in becoming a running mate to any of the remaining candidates.
“Being vice president has never been on my to-do list for this campaign, and it’s certainly not there now.”
He also halted short of throwing his support behind any of the remaining contenders.
Tim Scott said, “I’m going to recommend that the voters study each candidate and their candidacies and frankly their past and make the best decision for the future of their country. The best way for me to be helpful is not weigh in on who they should endorse.”
