Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) announced on Sunday that he was dropping out of the Republican presidential primary, suspending a campaign dragged down by what critics deemed as a series of lackluster debate performances.
Scott, 57, made the announcement to Fox News’ Trey Gowdy—a fellow South Carolinian—according to The Hill.
“I love America more today than I did on May 22,” the date he first announced his campaign, he said. “But when I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate.”
Scott went on to say that he’d sensed that voters were telling him it wasn’t his time. “I’m going to respect the voters and I’m going to hold on and work really hard and look forward to other opportunities,” he added.
The announcement reportedly came as a shock to Scott’s own staffers, several of whom told Politico they’d been given no advance warning before their boss went on live television to nuke his campaign.
Scott, a longtime bachelor, also spent much of the campaign haunted by rampant speculation over his love life. He spoke often of a girlfriend, though she was conspicuously absent for much of the time he spent on the trail.
Then, last week, Scott finally debuted this apparent girlfriend, Mindy Noce, immediately following the third GOP debate.
Experts have credited Scott’s failure to launch to an overall lackluster performance on the debate stage, and a struggle to capitalize on the early momentum he picked up over the summer. His troubles compounded recently as his campaign burned through a well-stocked war chest of $22 million, with fewer donors willing to continue giving.
He did not immediately endorse another candidate on Sunday.
