US Republican Senator Graham quits presidential race

Specifically, Graham pointed out that at the first debate, no one supported his belief that more American troops in Syria and Iraq are needed to combat ISIS.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of SC has suspended his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.

It would be easy to say that because of Graham’s profile it was the wrong year for him to run. “I don’t want to be the undercard voice”, Graham told CNN. Stuck in single digits, Graham never caught on even among establishment Republicans, who are mostly split among at least four other candidates, leaving Trump with a commanding lead in national polls.

Watch the full interview with Graham below via CNN. Graham thanked his supporters and staff for helping him throughout the campaign despite the low poll numbers across the country. “We’re going to have to start consolidating as Republicans”. The South Carolina Republican, who serves part-time as an attorney in the service, is expected to make his presidential candidacy official on Monday.

Graham’s exit could produce a ripple effect in his home state, which follows New Hampshire with a February 20 primary. Graham limped along at less than one percent in national polls, and, in the most recent CNN/ORC national poll, he barely registered.

“I expect Sen. Rubio, Gov. Kasich, Gov. Bush, and Mrs. Fiorina will be the most immediate beneficiaries of Sen”. On Monday, the last day he could take his name off the SC primary list, he dropped out of the race. “That’s what Lindsey has had on the sidelines: big check writers”. “I don’t think he’s done anything for SC”.

“At this point, I have not decided whom I will support”.

“I believe we have made enormous progress in this effort, ” Graham added. “I don’t care if it’s Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton”.

There are now 13 Republican candidates left in the race-an unlucky omen for the ever-lonelier bottom tier. As USA Today notes, Arizona Sen. But over the summer, political neophytes like Trump and Ben Carson surged to the front of the pack and forced far better-known candidates, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, to fight for support. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t Graham but the terrorist attacks in Paris and the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, that reshaped the GOP race into one dominated by national security fears.

Reaction to Graham’s departure among Central residents was mixed. “Lindsey stood up to and helped stem the rise within our party of isolationism and obliviousness in world affairs, and indifference to human suffering”. “At the same time, the party’s front-runner has consistently demonized immigrant communities….” Donald Russell, and Trump’s senior adviser in the state is Ed McMullen, veteran conservative activist and former president of the South Carolina Policy Council.

Republican Lindsey Graham has ended his Presidential bid, after failing to make any headway.

Graham once joked that if elected president, he could well form the first all-Jewish Cabinet.