Santorum said on Wednesday on Fox News Channel that he is “suspending our campaign as of this moment”.
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Santorum said that he and his family decided that the best way to promote his campaign’s message was to support someone “who shared those values and is in a better position to do well in this race”. “Marco Rubio… finish the sentence”, according to Mediaite. “He is the new generation and someone that can bring this country together, not just moderates and conservatives, but young and old”.
“OK, Marco Rubio was, No. 1, the speaker of the Florida House, which is not something that’s a minor deal”, Santorum replied. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., and Tim Scott, R-S.C.
The decision, first reported by CNN, would make Santorum the third Republican to end his campaign since Iowa.
Mr Santorum bailed out of the race on Wednesday, the same day that Republican Ryan Paul quit, and the same week that Democrat Martin O’Malley dropped out after all three failed to rack up votes in the Iowa caucus. He also inherited the libertarian streak of his father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who ran for president several times, including in 2008 and 2012.
“The electorate is so unpredictable, I wouldn’t make a betting guess for him or against him”, Iowa National Republican committeeman Steve Scheffler said of Santorum.
“Rick Santorum and Marco Rubio share a disturbing worldview, where LGBT people are second-class citizens unworthy of the most fundamental rights and basic protections”, Winterhof said. “But I do think our voice was an important one and I think as people look backwards they are going to say they were happy to have my voice in the debate”.
With just days until the crucial first in the nation primary in New Hampshire, political pundits are singing the praises of some Republican candidates for president and looking to stop the music for others.
Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee have also suspended their campaigns.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is taking issue with the results of Monday’s Iowa caucuses, accusing contest victor Ted Cruz of fraud. Santorum, who spent his youth in Butler, announced his presidential campaign on May 27, 2015, at Penn United Technologies’ plant in Jefferson Township.
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It was a far cry from 2012 when he delivered a surprise upset in the Iowa caucuses, defeating the eventual nominee, Mitt Romney. An ardent social conservative, Santorum faced a crowded competition against new faces such as Cruz and Ben Carson, and was never able to catch fire in polls.
