Donald Trump's most vehement critic is dropping out of the presidential race
"While we have run a campaign that has made a real difference, I have concluded this is not my time," Graham said in an email to supporters.
Graham has failed to gain traction in polls since entering the race. But he has been a vocal presence on the campaign trail, regularly rebutting Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's inflammatory statements about Muslims and Mexican immigrants and advocating a hawkish foreign policy worldview that would put American troops on the ground in Syria.
At multiple points during the campaign, he openly expressed exasperation about the phenomenon of Trump.
"The No. 1 guy is high energy and crazy as hell. How am I losing to these people?" Graham asked in late October.
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), Graham's biggest ally in the race, said Republicans had been stripped of their "most qualified, thoughtful, fearless, and honest" candidate with Graham's exit..
More to come...