'Not ready to quit': Ben Carson insists he won't leave the race after disastrous 'Super Tuesday'
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Ben Carson's staying in the race.
After a disastrous 'Super Tuesday' — where 12 states held Republican primaries and caucuses — which saw Carson finish no better than fourth in any of them, aside from Colorado, which doesn't announce its results, Carson told a group of supporters that he's "not ready to quit."
"The political class and their minions, which includes much of the media, you know they don't like it when someone challenges their authority," he said after announcing he'd keep campaigning.
"And I think I'm probably the epitome of someone who challenges their authority," the presidential candidate added.
Carson then went on to give a roughly 15-minute soliloquy of the Pledge of Allegiance. Carson defined various portions of the pledge, including each part of the final line that requires a pause when reciting.
Some of Carson's definitions went as such:
One nation: “That means united. That means working together.”
Under god: “That means we don't throw away our faith.”
Indivisible: “What does that mean?” he asked rhetorically, before suggesting that the country must "be more united than ever" to stop "radical Islamic extremists."
With liberty: “Freedom,” he said, “What is freedom? Freedom is not having the government controlling every aspect of your life. Freedom is not having PC police telling you what you can say and what you cannot say. We are the ones who will determine what our level of freedom is by what we accept.”
And justice for all: “We don't pick and choose winners and losers in our society. We want everybody in American society to be a winner. ... And believe me it is not that hard to do.”
During his speech, Carson also seemed to acknowledge the fact that he is probably not going to be the Republican nominee.
"Maybe we will have an imperfect candidate," he said. "In fact, we will have an imperfect candidate. Even if it's me, we will have an imperfect candidate. And that's alright. As long as we can help that candidate. As long as we can work with that candidate. And as long as that candidate is willing to work with us, we can somehow to get through this."
During the past couple days, even people closest to Carson have said he has no chance at winning.
His longtime friend Armstrong Williams told Politico on Wednesday that Carson has "no pathway" to victory.
"It's not about a pathway to him. There is no pathway," he said. "It's about his constituency and his base telling him to stay in the race."
"No one has a pathway to the nomination except Donald Trump," he added.
Bob Dees, Carson's campaign chair, also told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that the campaign doesn't know how to win and that "we don't have a well-defined path to victory."
Watch Carson's post-Super Tuesday speech below:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/etWp-p5C1JE
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