With the primary voting in full swing, everyone figured they could bank on an election surprise here and there. But this was the last thing on anyone’s mind.
And this Republican candidate stunned everyone after officially dropping out of the 2024 presidential election.
Tuesday marked the withdrawal of Republican presidential candidate Ryan Binkley.
Binkley was considered a longshot candidate and only got 1,256 in the first four states that held Republican primary voting contests.
There are now just two Republican candidates in the race, former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
After suspending his campaign, Binkley, who’s a 56-year-old pastor and businessman, gave his full support to Trump.
“Today, I am suspending my campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America and offering my endorsement and unwavering support for President Trump. I would like to thank my family, friends, campaign team, 80,000 plus financial supporters, and the hundreds of volunteers who helped share my vision,” Binkley said in a post to X.
“Throughout my campaign, I have seen our party struggle to find a place for a new vision while weighing the corrupt allegations and indictments against President Trump. He will need everyone’s support, and he will have mine moving forward.”
Today, I am suspending my campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America and offering my endorsement and unwavering support for President Trump. I would like to thank my family, friends, campaign team, 80,000 plus financial supporters, and the hundreds of volunteers…
— Ryan Binkley (@RyanBinkley) February 27, 2024
Binkley began his campaign in April and his goal throughout was to unify America and fix the border crisis with “peace, safety, security, and care.”
Some of his other goals were to strengthen the economy and fix health care in the country.
He was also the first Republican candidate to visit all 99 counties in Iowa ahead of the caucus in the Hawkeye State on January 15.
But unfortunately for Binkley, he only received 774 votes in the Iowa caucus, which was good for just 0.7% of the vote.
Additionally, throughout his campaign, he never got enough support to become eligible for any of the GOP primary debates.
That might have helped bring him some more exposure as he did just as bad if not worse in other voting contests.
In the New Hampshire primary on January 23, Binkley received just 315 votes.
On February 8, he got 540 votes in the Nevada caucus.
And finally, Binkley was able to secure 0.1% of the vote in last Saturday’s South Carolina primary. That percentage equaled 527 votes.
Overall, this decision to drop out doesn’t really impact the remaining GOP candidates.
Donald Trump is still expected to easily win the nomination over Nikki Haley when it’s all said and done.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
