Updated at 6:20 p.m. Eastern time to include Gov. Walker's words.
MADISON, WI, September 21, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker withdrew from the 2016 presidential race this evening, urging numerous other Republican candidates to do the same in a bid to sink the insurgenct candidacy of Donald Trump.
“I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the race, so that a positive conservative message can rise to the top of the field,” Walker said from Madison, Wisconsin. “With that in mind, I will suspend my campaign immediately.”
“I encourage other Republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same,” he continued, “so the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive conservative alternative to the current frontrunner. This is fundamentally important to the future of the party and – ultimately – to the future of our country.”
“Sadly, the debate taking place in the Republican party today is not focused on that optimistic view of America. Instead, it has drifted into personal attacks,” he said at the press conference, called at 6 p.m. Eastern time. “In the end, I believe that voters want to be for something and not against someone.”
With that, the Wisconsin governor ended a campaign that experts once deemed all-but-certain to capture the Republican presidential nomination.
The substance of his annoucnement came as no surprise. Earlier in the afternoon, anonymous sources in his campaign affirmed that the governor – whose campaign has been on shaky ground for weeks – would suspend his campaign due to a lack of funds.
“The short answer is money,” according to the New York Times. “He's made a decision not to limp into Iowa.”
Walker reportedly lost the financial support of numerous Republican megadonors, because he seemed too honest when he said he opposed same-sex “marriage.”
“When Barack Obama said he's against gay marriage in 2008, people didn't think he meant it,” one Republican source told The Washington Post. “But when Scott says it, people think he means it. This is a very big stumbling block for him on Wall Street.”
Once considered a favorite for the nomination, Walker entered the presidential race in July. His attractive qualities include the fact that he survived a recall election in heavily Democratic Wisconsin.
After giving off concerning signs during a 2014 campaign ad, he signed a state Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, saying the baby's ability to feel pain “sets a reasonable standard” for the government's interest in defending life. The bill restricted abortion to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The act contains no exceptions for rape or incest, a position he defended at the Fox News presidential debate. He took that opportunity to boast of his decision to slash $1 million of taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood's budget.
He also fought off a pro-abortion campaign to claim that he thought forcing women to have “trans-vaginal” ultrasounds was “a cool thing.”
But Walker, who led polls in Iowa as recently as June, saw his support fall to zero percent in a new poll that came out yesterday – his support sapped by surging outsiders like Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson.
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The CNN/ORC poll named five candidates with zero percent: Walker, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Gov. Bobby Jindal and pro-choice former governors George Pataki and Jim Gilmore.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a pro-life stalwart, also left the presidential field – which once included 17 candidates – earlier this month.
Walker's statement read in full:
As a kid, I was drawn to Ronald Reagan because he was a Republican and a conservative. But most of all, I admired him because of his eternal optimism in the American people.
That thought came into my head when we were all standing at the Reagan Library last Wednesday. President Reagan was good for America because he was an optimist.
Sadly, the debate taking place in the Republican party today is not focused on that optimistic view of America. Instead, it has drifted into personal attacks.
In the end, I believe that voters want to be for something and not against someone. Instead of talking about how bad things are, we want to hear about how we can make them better for everyone.
We need to get back to the basics of our party:
We are the party that believes that people create jobs – not the government – and the best way to grow the economy is to get the government out of the way and build it from the ground up.
We are the party that believes that the way to measure success in government is by how many people are no longer dependent on the government – because we ultimately believe in the dignity of work.
We are the party that believes that a strong military leads to peace through strength and that will protect our children and future generations – we believe that good will triumph over evil.
We are the party that believes in the American people – and not the federal government.
These ideas will help us win the election next fall and – more importantly – these ideas will help make our country great again.
To refocus the debate will require leadership. While I was sitting in church yesterday, the pastor's words reminded me that the Bible is full of stories about people who were called to be leaders in unusual ways.
Today, I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the race so that a positive conservative message can rise to the top of the field. With that in mind, I will suspend my campaign immediately.
I encourage other Republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same so the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive conservative alternative to the current frontrunner. This is fundamentally important to the future of the party and – ultimately – to the future of our country.
This is a difficult decision as so many wonderful people stepped up to support our efforts. Tonette and I are so very thankful for the many outstanding volunteers and the excellent staff who helped us throughout the campaign. You have become like family to us.
And speaking of family, I want to personally thank my wife Tonette – who has been a rock – as well as our amazing sons Matt and Alex. I thank my parents, my brother David and his family – and all of our other family and friends for their love and support.
Most of all, I want to thank God for His abundant grace. Win or lose, it is more than enough for any of us.
Thank you.
