Ben Carson officially drops out of presidential race

[NEW YORK] After a string of defeats, Ben Carson officially announced Friday at CPAC that he's ending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

"I am leaving the campaign trail," the retired neurosurgeon told the crowd to rousing applause.

"I will continue to be heavily involved in trying to save our nation. We have to save it. And I'll be involved in a lot of different things," he said, including his work with the organisation My Faith Votes, and stopping a "secular progressive" from being elected president.

Mr Carson indicated on Wednesday after failing to notch any victories in the first 15 primaries that he did "not see a political path forward in light of last evening's Super Tuesday primary results," although he stopped short of saying he'd dropping out.

In his speech Friday, Mr Carson sounded his usual notes of preserving evangelical Christian values and embracing personal responsibility.

BLOOMBERG