Republican Ryan Binkley ended his longshot presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump on Tuesday, after failing to gain traction in any of the early nominating states.
While the primary became a one-on-one race between Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Binkley, a Texas pastor and businessperson, remained in the race since last April, generating minimal support.
It came at a high cost. He loaned himself more than $10 million and only earned just more than 2,000 votes across the four early-state nominating contests. In New Hampshire and South Carolina, he came in behind candidates who had already dropped out.
On his way out, Binkley endorsed Trump, who is expected to secure yet another win in Michigan’s presidential primary on Tuesday.
“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,” Binkley wrote in a post announcing the end of his campaign. “He will need everyone’s support, and he will have mine moving forward.”
He said in his post that he looks “forward to considering other ways I can make an impact and promote my policy positions.”
The path for Binkley appeared all but impossible from the beginning, and he acknowledged that he was not resonating with voters on the trail. When POLITICO asked him after the New Hampshire primary what it would take for him to drop out, he said that “God would just have to speak to me and tell me to end it.”
