Republican Jeb Bush ends 2016 presidential campaign

The Republican pack will now look to back Florida Senator Marco Rubio, once Jeb Bush’s protégé, who tied in second place with Mr Cruz in SC.

“The people of Iowa and New Hampshire and SC have spoken, and I really respect their decision, so tonight I am suspending my campaign”, said Bush, and BuzzFeed reported the crow gasped as one.

“I’m proud of the campaign that we have run to unify our country”. The remaining three candidates – Ohio Governor John Kasich, retired surgeon Ben Carson and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush showed single digits.

But Cruz stumbled in SC, a state filled with the same kind of evangelical voters whom he counted on to win Iowa. But money was not enough for Bush.

The pope: Republicans in SC – a mostly Protestant state – were apparently unfazed by Pope Francis’ clash with The Donald.

“Tonight, despite millions and millions of dollars of false and nasty attacks, despite the entirety of the political establishment coming together against us, SC has given us another remarkable result”, he said. Rubio had the backing of Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. “There’s nothing easy about running for president, I can tell you”.

Going into the primary, Trump had the support of 28 percent of likely voters, while Cruz had 23 percent in The Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll of likely Republican primary voters.

In what appeared to be a jab at Mr Trump, whom Bush has accused of lacking ideas, the former Florida Governor said, “ideas matter, policy matters”.

Mr Rubio declared the Republican nomination was now a “three-person race” and hopes to capitalise on Mr Bush’s withdrawal by securing support from mainstream Republicans.

Mr Trump received another boost to his campaign, scoring 33% to Messrs Cruz and Rubio, each with about 22% each.

Sanders told his supporters he called Clinton to congratulate her. Despite his defeat, he vowed to take his campaign nationwide, notably looking past SC, where Clinton is leading the polls, to a dozen primaries on March 1 Super Tuesday.

Hillary Clinton pulled out a win in Nevada’s Democratic caucuses, overcoming an unexpectedly strong surge by Bernie Sanders and easing the rising anxiety of her supporters.

“I firmly believe the American people must entrust this office to someone who understands that whoever holds it is a servant, not the master”, Bush said as he withdrew from the race on Saturday.