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Lindsey Graham Drops Out of Republican Presidential Race

Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Graham / AP
December 21, 2015

Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, is dropping out of the 2016 presidential race.

Graham first broke the news to CNN in an exclusive interview airing Monday morning.

"I’m going to suspend my campaign. I’m not going to suspend my desire to help the country," Graham said.

He also admitted that he felt he had "hit a wall."

The most recent CNN/ORC poll had Graham winning less than 1 percent of the vote in the Republican presidential primary.

However, Graham remains optimistic about his influence in the presidential race.

"Here’s what I predict. I think the nominee of our party is going to adopt my plan when it comes time to articulate how to destroy ISIL," Graham said in the interview, using another name for ISIS, the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for last month’s attacks in Paris.

"We’ve fallen short here, but the fight continues. To those who are doing the fighting, I want to be your voice. To those in the Republican Party who want to win, check my plan out. Hillary, if you get to be president, I’ll help you where I can. I hope you’re not. But if you are, I'll be there to help you win a war we can’t afford to lose."