Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, polling at less than one percent in the latest opinion polls, suspended his 2016 GOP Presidential campaign Tuesday, issuing the news via his Facebook page. He also commented on his departure on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” program, media reports indicated.
Jindal said his parents, who emigrated from India, “raised me to believe Americans can do anything, and they were right, we can. But this is not my time, so I am suspending my campaign for President.”
He said, “I cannot tell you what an honor it has been to run for President of the United States of America.”
Jindal, finishing his second term as Louisiana governor, launched his presidential bid in June 2015. Though favored as a staunch support of religious freedom, a strong defense and to repealing the 2009 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “Obamacare,” his campaign failed to attract the kind of momentum found by political outsiders Donald J. Trump and Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon.
In his posted statement, Jindal reflected a basic optimism in the American spirit, despite today’s challenges.
“I realize that our country is off on the wrong track right now. Everyone knows that, but don’t forget, this is still the greatest country in the history of the world – and every single one of us should start every day by thanking God that we are fortunate enough to be U.S. citizens,” he wrote.
Jindal hinted at his immediate plans, saying, “One of the things I will do is go back to work at the think tank I started a few years ago – where I will be outlining a blueprint for making this the American century.”
But the now-former candidate added a cautionary word at his statement’s conclusion.
“The idea of America – the idea that my parents came here for almost a half a century ago – that idea is slipping away from us,” Jindal wrote. “Freedom is under assault from both outside our borders and from within. We must act now, we do not have a moment to spare.”
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