US Republican Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina has officially withdrawn from the 2024 presidential race.
He aspired to be the inaugural African-American to clinch the Republican nomination.
He told Fox News: “I think the voters, who are the most remarkable people on the planet, have been clear that they’re telling me: ‘Not now, Tim.'”
Despite Tim Scott having substantial funding, he did not significantly influence opinion polls.
He has refrained from endorsing any remaining candidates and has dismissed the possibility of running for vice president.
“I’ll be honest with you: I ran for president to be president,” he told Fox host and personal friend Trey Gowdy in the interview on Sunday, saying being vice president was not on his “to-do list”.
Having entered the Republican nomination race in May, Mr. Scott, aged 58, positioned himself as a staunchly conservative candidate with the potential to bridge political divides in the United States more effectively than former President Donald Trump.
Advocating a largely positive message, he pledged to rejuvenate the nation’s “culture of greatness” and highlighted his journey as a representation of the American dream.
As the grandson of a cotton field worker from the Deep South, he shared his upbringing with a single mother and recounted his family’s trajectory “from cotton to Congress” within his grandfather’s lifetime.
His choice to withdraw from the Republican presidential campaign followed closely after the third presidential debate in Miami last week.
Mr. Scott frequently found himself overshadowed by other candidates on the debate stage, and his upbeat campaign message struggled to resonate with voters. There was a looming risk that he might not meet the qualifications for the upcoming Republican debate on December 6.
While Mr. Trump, leading the race with a substantial advantage over fellow Republican contenders, has refrained from participating in televised debates, Mr. Scott’s choice to halt his campaign came as an unexpected development for many of his staff, as reported by CBS, the US media partner of the BBC.
“It was a shock to nearly everyone on the campaign and most people found out in real-time,” one campaign aide told CBS.
Mr. Scott marks the second notable departure from the competitive 2024 US presidential race.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, aged 64, exited the race in late October, facing challenges in garnering support from Republican voters.
Mr. Scott’s announcement arrives merely two months ahead of the commencement of the presidential primary season in Iowa.
According to a recent CBS News/YouGov poll, he secured a mere 4% of voters’ support, placing him in fifth position in the Republican race and trailing behind Mr. Trump.
Certain significant donors who previously endorsed Mr. Scott, a US senator since 2013, are now redirecting their support to former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who hails from South Carolina.
In a Sunday night post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Ms. Haley made a statement about Mr. Scott ”a good man of faith and an inspiration to so many”.
“The Republican primary was made better by his participation in it.”