Rick Santorum and Kentucky Senator Rand
Paul on Wednesday suspended their campaigns for the White House.
Both Republicans had unremarkable
showings in Iowa. Paul placed a disappointing fifth, while Santorum
was tied with Jim Gilmore at the bottom of the pack.
Santorum, 57, announced the end of his
own campaign on Fox News, where he endorsed the campaign of Florida
Senator Marco Rubio, who came in third in Iowa.
Santorum, who won the Iowa caucuses in
2012, but lost the GOP nomination to Mitt Romney, is best known for
his conservative stances, such as opposition to marriage equality and
abortion rights. Those are views GOP frontrunners Senator Ted Cruz,
Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio also embrace.
The 53-year-old Paul announced he was
dropping out in a video uploaded to YouTube.
“Across the country, thousands upon
thousands of young people flocked to our message of limited
government, privacy, criminal justice reform and a reasonable foreign
policy. Brush fires of liberty were ignited, and those will carry
on, as will I,” Paul said.
In June, Paul suggested that the
Supreme Court's finding that gay and lesbian couples have a
constitutional right to marry would impinge on religious liberty and
free speech.
“And can the government do its main
job in the aftermath of this ruling – the protection of liberty,
particularly religious liberty and free speech?” he rhetorically
asked in a
Time
op-ed.