Ben Carson will never, ever drop out of the presidential race

Ben Carson is never dropping out of this race.

(Image credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

published 1 March 2016

If Ben Carson doesn't earn any delegates on Super Tuesday — zero, zip, nada — even that won't convince him to drop out of the presidential race, his close friend and adviser Armstrong Williams told The Hill. Williams said that Carson has asserted he will stay in the race literally up until a candidate reaches 1,237 delegates, locking the Republican nomination.

"Dr. Ben Carson is not and never will be a part of the political class. He doesn't think like a politician, doesn't act like a politician, and doesn't rely on those relationships like the other politicians do. He's staying in the race even if he doesn't get any delegates tonight," Williams said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Carson's campaign chairman confessed they don't even actually have a plan to win the GOP nomination. Carson finished last in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and is not expected to win any of the many states up for grabs today.

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"Ben's voice is, in my opinion, a very important voice in the Republican Party, and the Republican Party needs him," longtime Carson ally Terry Giles told The Hill. "But if he continues, it will reflect negatively on him and his numbers will drop to a point he won't carry the weight that he would if he handles it with decorum and the professionalism that for instance, Jeb Bush did."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.