Ben Carson said Wednesday he will be staying in the Republican race, despite a poor showing in New Hampshire, and is hoping to win big in South Carolina.
“I’m not getting any pressure from our millions of supporters (to leave the race). I’m getting a lot of pressure to make sure I stay in the race,” Carson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.” “You know, they’re reminding me that I’m here because I responded to their imploring me to get involved. And I respect that and I’m not just going to walk away from the millions of people who are supporting me.”
Carson came in second-to-last place Tuesday night, beating only former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. His decision to stick in the race comes even as two candidates who beat him there, Carly Fiorina and Chris Christie, announced Wednesday they were ending their bids.
But Carson, who at one point attracted strong support from evangelical voters, said he expected to do well in South Carolina.
“I think I can win South Carolina. We’re going to be putting a lot of time resources and effort here,” Carson said.
Carson also downplayed his New Hampshire loss, saying he decided not to focus there on purpose.
“We didn’t spend nearly as much money in New Hampshire as many others,” Carson said. “We didn’t spend anywhere near millions of dollars there, recognizing there were certain things that were going to happen there. So you have to pick your battles very carefully. We’re doing just fine, people will continue to support us, we will move forward.”