No hope: Ben Carson, pictured in his adopted hometown of Baltimore last night, will tell supporters on Friday that he has no 'path forward.' He will not take part in tomorrow night's Republican debate
Carson who made the controversial comment last week, that President Obama was 'raised white' and didn't embody the typical black American experience, in the run-up to Nevada's caucuses. Then returned to the fourth place position in that state, in a field of just five candidates, has admitted he has no chance of becoming the Republican presidential nominee – but will not actually quit the race.
He has been Losing ground thanks to some sluggish debate performances, pronouncing Hamas like 'hummus,' the chickpea-based spread, when talking foreign policy and suggesting the pyramids in Egypt were built to store grain, Carson's 2015 holiday season consisted of a big staff shake-up.
The retired neurosurgeon released a statement this afternoon saying that he planned to skip tomorrow night's GOP debate in Detroit as there is no 'path forward' for him in light of last night's Super Tuesday results.
He said he'll use his speech Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference to 'discuss more about the future of this movement.'
Carson's business manager and closest aide, Armstrong Williams, told the Associated Press: 'There's only one candidate in this 2016 election on the GOP side, and his name is [Donald] Trump.'
Williams added that Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz also 'have no path' and should drop out. But confusingly Carson is not yet expected to actually quit the race.
Ben Carson returned to Maryland last night to address supporters and seemed poised to stay in the race, but a meeting Wednesday with key aides had him changing his tune
Personally popular: Ben Carson, with this wife Candy, could not translate his inspirational rise from working-class black Detroit to being a renowned neurosurgeon into votes, but remains popular, making his endorsement valuable
Carson, 64, performed dismally in the Super Tuesday primaries and had made little impact on recent debates, being marginalized almost completely in last week's by Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump attacking each other.
He will use a scheduled speech at the CPAC, being held in just outside Washington, D.C. in Maryland to talk at length to supporters.
He issued a statement today saying that his 'grassroots movement' would continue.
He was the only one of the five remaining Republican candidates not to walk away from Super Tuesday with at least a second place somewhere – with John Kasich coming in second in Massachusetts and Vermont.
And he had picked up just eight delegates in the primaries and caucuses so far, compared to frontrunner Trump's 319.
Ben Carson wasn't able to get much air time at last week's Republican debate in Houston, Texas, as Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio all attacked one another
Donald Trump (left), the party's frontrunner, has been fairly nice to Dr. Ben Carson, even saying the retired neurosurgeon wasn't getting enough time to speak at debates
Carson's endorsement, however, will be much sought-after among the remaining candidates.
Although he could not translate personal popularity into votes and polling numbers, his inspirational story and his breakthrough moment at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast would combine to make an endorsement a valuable asset.
Carson's own strong religious views would suggest that he would lean towards endorsing Ted Cruz but he could also be under pressure from the Republican establishment to throw his weight behind Marco Rubio, who continues to be their preferred candidate to take on Donald Trump.
However his business manager's views are seen as having the most influence on Carson, and that could point to a Trump endorsement.
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