Outspoken Donald Trump-critic Senator Lindsey Graham drops his USA presidential bid

“I got into this race to put forward a plan to win a war that we can not afford to lose, and to turn back the tide of isolationism that was rising in our party”. Graham often touted his experience in the Middle East – he says he has made 36 trips to the region – and said the next USA president must have a deft understanding of the conflicts there. Today, most of my fellow candidates have come to recognize this is what’s needed to secure our homeland.

“I have seen Americans partner with people in the region and that’s the way forward”.

I believe we’ve run a campaign you can be proud of. Lindsey Graham was suspending his presidential campaign quickly reverberated through the race on Monday, with moderate candidates especially quickly moving to send Graham their well wishes.

In a statement Monday on Sidewire, a political news analysis app, Graham said, “While I am not prepared to make an endorsement, I will continue to speak out in support of candidates who share my commitment to defeating ISIL & solving our nation’s most hard problems”.

God bless our fighting men and women, and God bless America.

“You need to start thinking about policies that actually work”, he said, possibly referring to his ban on Muslim immigration that Graham criticized during last week’s GOP debate.

Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) used YouTube to release his final statement from the campaign. He will be up for re-election in 2020.

Graham faced a crowded GOP field where his numbers never rose above single digits in national polls, according data compiled by RealClearPolitics.

Graham, explaining his objective in running for president.

Scores of SC donors, who might have otherwise jumped to higher-polling candidates, stayed on Graham’s team out of loyalty – and on the chance that his moderate campaign broke through.

Of Graham, McCain lamented that “a bifurcated debate structure kept his voice and views from the wider public”.

The South Carolina senator has been among Trump’s fiercest critics, calling him a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who should “go to hell”. If a candidate picks up three or four or five percentage points in SC with Graham out, it could be the difference between a first-place or second-place finish.