BALTIMORE, MD – Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a brief leader in the Republican presidential field who sank before the first caucuses in February, plans to suspend his low-key, faith-based presidential campaign, according to Costa Reports.
Robert Costa shared a statement from Carson via Twitter that says the doctor will not participate in Thursday night's FOX News debate in his hometown of Detroit.
Among the March 1 Super Tuesday states, Carson came in last in Virginia, fourth in Georgia, fifth in Massachusetts, and fifth in Texas, according to preliminary results.
The Detroit native who gained acclaim as a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins University, was an unconventional candidate from the start. His support soared this fall, putting him in the lead nationally by the first week of November.
But Carson finished a disappointing fourth in the Feb. 1 Iowa Caucuses, which Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won, with businessman Donald Trump placing second and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio finishing in third. Some said that Carson created that opportunity when he bafflingly announced on caucus day that he was going home to Florida to “get a fresh set of clothes.”
So Cruz sent an email to supporters that said Carson was “taking time off from the campaign trail” and encouraged them to get caucus-goers to vote for him instead. Carson protested, re-affirmed his candidacy and Cruz apologized.

Carson’s soft-spoken style stood in contrast to his counterparts in Republican debates, where other candidates snarled at moderators, called one another names and bashed critics as stupid or liars.
His strong faith appealed to evangelical Christians, an important part of the GOP base. By early November, Carson led the crowded Republican field, with 29 percent support, followed by 23 percent for Trump, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey.
But, the doctor seemed vague, if not confused, at times on foreign affairs, which hurt him in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. In Iowa, the state’s top evangelical organizer threw his support – and voter turnout machine – behind Cruz. Staff turmoil and media coverage of it seemed to add to Carson’s troubles, dropping him behind Trump and Cruz by early December.
At the Jan. 14 GOP debate, Carson even joked about sleeping through parts of the discussion.
“Well, I am very happy to get a question this early on. I was going to ask you to wake me up when the time came,” Carson said when he was asked about fighting the Islamic State.