Sanford suspends GOP presidential primary challenge to Trump

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Mark Sanford dropped his challenge to President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, saying the focus on impeachment has made it difficult for his campaign to gain traction.

"You've got to be a realist," Sanford said outside the New Hampshire statehouse. "What I did not anticipate is an impeachment."

The former South Carolina governor and congressman announced his decision to suspend his campaign on the eve of televised impeachment hearings in the U.S. House. He centered his campaign on warnings about the national debt but emphasized that the impeachment effort hurt his 2020 bid.

"It was a long shot, but we wanted to try and interject this issue, how much we're spending, into the national debate which comes along once every four years," Sanford said. "I don't think on the Republican side there is any appetite for a nuanced conversation on issues when there's an impeachment overhead."

Sanford's departure from the race is the latest blow to the struggling "Never Trump" movement that has failed to attract a marquee GOP challenge for Trump this cycle. The only major options available for Never Trump Republican primary voters are now former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld and former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh. Sanford did not commit to supporting either of the challengers' campaigns Tuesday.

"I give him credit for taking a shot, for trying really," said Bill Kristol, a director of Defending Democracy Together, a 501(c)(4) anti-Trump conservative group. "So few Republicans have had the nerve to step up at all."

Weld, in a statement, said Sanford's "voice in the primaries will be missed." In an interview, Walsh said he never understood why Sanford entered the race.

"This isn't about the debt and this isn't about tariffs and...