Republican presidential candidate Will Hurd speaks on the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s banquet, Sept. 16, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Bryon Houlgrave/AP

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Bryon Houlgrave/AP

Republican presidential candidate Will Hurd speaks on the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s banquet, Sept. 16, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Bryon Houlgrave/AP

WASHINGTON — Former Republican Texas congressman Will Hurd suspended his presidential bid on Monday and endorsed fellow GOP major candidate Nikki Haley, formally abandoning a quick marketing campaign constructed on criticizing Donald Trump at a time when his get together appears much more decided to embrace the previous president.

“While I appreciate all the time and energy our supporters have given, it is important to recognize the realities of the political landscape and the need to consolidate our party around one person to defeat both Donald Trump and President Biden,” Hurd wrote on X, the platform previously often called Twitter.

He added that Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations beneath Trump and governor of South Carolina, “has shown a willingness to articulate a different vision for the country than Donald Trump and has an unmatched grasp on the complexities of our foreign policy.”

Hurd was the final main candidate to affix the already crowded Republican major subject when he introduced his run in late June. He leaves the race barely three months later, after failing to achieve traction as pragmatic average who pledged to steer the get together away from Trump’s “Make America Great Again” motion. Hurd did not qualify for each the primary GOP debate in Milwaukee in August and the second debate the next month in Simi Valley, California.

“America is at a crossroads and it’s time to come together and make Joe Biden a one-term president,” Haley wrote on X in response to Hurd’s endorsement. “Thank you @WillHurd for your support and confidence. We have a country to save!”

Hurd ending his marketing campaign follows one other Republican candidate, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who turned the primary presidential hopeful to droop his marketing campaign shortly after failing to make the primary debate stage.

Hurd wasn’t invited to the Milwaukee occasion after falling in need of Republican National Committee minimums on assist within the polls and enough numbers of donors to his marketing campaign.

Hurd was initially defiant about lacking the primary debate, arguing that the Republican Party blocked him for refusing to signal a pledge for its presidential candidates to assist the eventual major winner, even when it was Trump. The RNC requirements are “arbitrary, unclear, and lack consistency. This is an unacceptable process for a presidential election,” he mentioned in an announcement.

When he did not make the second debate, Hurd caught a special tone, writing on X that “we narrowly missed the cut for the second debate and our campaign is at an inflection point.”

A clandestine CIA officer who labored in Pakistan, Hurd served three phrases within the House by way of January 2021 and was the chamber’s solely Black Republican throughout his remaining two years in workplace. He represented Texas’ then-most aggressive district, which was closely Hispanic and stretched from the outskirts of San Antonio to El Paso, encompassing greater than 800 miles of Texas-Mexico border.

Hurd opted to not search reelection in 2020, saying he was pursuing alternatives exterior Congress “to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security.” Last 12 months, he traveled the nation selling his e-book “American Reboot: An Idealist’s Guide to Getting Big Things Done.”

The 46-year-old has lengthy been a fierce Trump antagonist, even encouraging the then-Republican presidential nominee to go away the 2016 race when the “Access Hollywood” tape by which Trump brags about sexually assaulting ladies was made public within the remaining weeks earlier than Election Day.

Hurd hoped to resonate with voters searching for a pro-business Republican with a powerful nationwide safety background who was additionally unafraid to hunt bipartisan consensus. He introduced his candidacy criticizing each Biden and Trump, saying the president wasn’t as much as securing the U.S.-Mexico border, combating fentanyl smuggling that has led to epidemic of American overdoses and violent crime and homelessness within the nation’s cities.

“President Biden can’t solve these problems — or won’t,” Hurd mentioned in his announcement video. “And, if we nominate a lawless, selfish, failed politician like Donald Trump — who lost the House, the Senate, and the White House — we all know Joe Biden will win again.”

Hurd stepped up his public criticism of Trump as the previous president was repeatedly indicted and now faces 4 separate felony circumstances and 91 complete prices. Trump nonetheless holds a fundraising benefit and commanding lead in early major polls.

As a end result, Hurd’s few memorable moments as a White House candidate got here when he was heckled by Republican crowds after repeating assertions that Trump, ought to he clinch the GOP nomination, would lose the final election to Biden.

“Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison,” Hurd declared at a July GOP dinner in Iowa. When sustained booing adopted, he responded, “Listen, I know the truth is hard.”