Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has suspended his 2020 presidential race bid two months after announcing his challenge to President Donald Trump in the 2020 Republican primary.
“Based on the impossibility of trying to raise the issues I’ve been trying to raise which is debt, deficit, government spending in the midst of an impeachment. So call me a casualty of the impeachment process,” Sanford told reporters on Tuesday adding that he feels it’s impossible to get meaningful debate on anything right now because of partisan fighting over impeachment inquiry process.
Sanford said he is “suspending” his presidential campaign, however he doesn’t see jumping back in if the impeachment matter is wrapped quickly.
Sanford had previously said he was launching a long shot bid against Trump because he believes “we need to have a conversation on what it means to be a Republican. I think as a Republican party we have lost our way.”
On Sanford’s web site, he previously said the country is heading in the wrong direction. He also tweeted, “Essentially no one ‘leading’ in Washington is leading, or even speaking of, our financial predicament.”
Sanford’s tenure as South Carolina governor was rocked by scandal in 2009 after he secretly traveled to Argentina to meet with his lover, Buenos Aires resident Maria Belen Chapur. He confessed to having an extramarital affair in a news conference after his return.
He finished his term as governor and was elected to Congress several years later.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Will Steakin contributed to this report.
