“After a lot prayer and deliberation, I’ve determined to droop my marketing campaign for president,” he mentioned. “Let me promise you that I’ll by no means stop combating for conservative values and I’ll by no means cease.”
“We at all times knew this is able to be an uphill battle, however I’ve no regrets,” he added. “The one factor that might have been more durable than going bankrupt.”
Noting his efforts to persuade Republican voters to decide on somebody apart from former President Donald Trump, he urged GOP voters to decide on a Republican standard-bearer who “appeals to the higher angels of our nature, and never solely leads us to victory; leads us to victory.” Lead our nation with grace to return to the time-honored rules which have at all times made America sturdy, affluent, and free.
Pence has struggled to win over GOP voters and donors from the second he entered the marketing campaign this summer season. He was dealing with mounting debt, had very restricted cash to spend this major season, and went as far as to donate $150,000 of his personal cash to his marketing campaign, in keeping with current filings with the Federal Election Fee. He raised $3.3 million, the bottom quantity raised by any of the present GOP candidates besides Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and spent about the identical quantity within the third quarter of the yr. It had $1.1 million in money and $620,000 in debt on the finish of the quarter.
The previous vp has struggled to make features within the polls, hovering round fifth nationally, and sixth and seventh in Iowa and New Hampshire — key early states by which he would have wanted a powerful end to construct momentum for the first showdown.
His wrestle to lift cash and get any traction above the one digits within the polls — that are crucial metrics for reaching the following debate stage in Miami in November — displays antipathy towards the previous vp amongst rank-and-file GOP voters. Who’re nonetheless offended about his refusal to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election at Trump’s request, an influence he didn’t have. Pence defended his actions and instantly confronted the frustration of those voters throughout his intensive e book tour final yr for his memoir, “So Assist Me, God.”
He tirelessly argued on the e book tour and afterward the marketing campaign path that he faithfully carried out his constitutional duties in the course of the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 when Trump supporters tried to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s win by Congress. He has typically tried to redirect Trump supporters to think about the general accomplishments he and Trump have achieved collectively of their administration. He expressed his disappointment and disappointment about Trump’s post-election habits.
However this strategy failed. Even voters who discover Trump distasteful haven’t warmed to Pence, who has struggled to construct crowds even in states like Iowa, the place he hoped his deep reference to evangelical voters could be a springboard towards an abrupt finish within the Iowa caucuses.
He was typically overshadowed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who had a considerably simpler historical past with Trump and robust arguments for his or her path to the nomination.
Now, with lower than 100 days till the Iowa caucuses, Pence has been dealing with critical challenges paying for day-to-day actions of the marketing campaign, together with the exorbitant charges being charged to candidates to get on the poll in states throughout the nation. . Extra importantly, he confronted deep skepticism amongst donors who couldn’t envision his path to the Republican nomination. Finally, these challenges have been too troublesome to beat, and he capitulated on Saturday in entrance of an viewers that had lengthy admired his efforts to assist Israel.
This can be a growing story and will likely be up to date.
Meryl Kornfeld contributed to this report.