Another GOP Candidate Drops Out Of The Race

Drop season is upon us….

Remember in 2015 when Donald Trump was up against 17 Republican challengers?

And then one by one he started picking them all off, until there was just one standing?

THE one.

Well, it’s time to do it again.

Today we get another candidate dropping out:

NEW: Steve Laffey, the former mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, is dropping out of the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. https://t.co/vQRx4qlFbH

— ABC News (@ABC) October 6, 2023

I actually love this Tweet below more…

The shocker isn’t that he’s dropping out, the shocking news is that Steve Laffey had been running for President!

In other shocking news, Steve Laffey had been running for president. pic.twitter.com/LH7SkA4Z0J

— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) October 6, 2023

Hilarious.

The most common reply on Twitter is:  “Who?”

Heck, I didn’t even know he was running!

Shocker that a nobody who’s only claim to fame was being Mayor of a small town in Rhode Island.

Kind of like when Gideon was the weakest person from the weakest tribe, remember that?

This guy was the Mayor of a small town of a small state.

My friends over at TrendingPolitics report that Laffey only pulled in $18,000 last quarter:

Financially, Laffey’s campaign faced challenges. According to his FEC filing, he raised a modest $18,589.04 with $106,484.95 cash on hand by the end of the second quarter. After settling his campaign’s outstanding bills, Laffey plans to donate the remaining funds.

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“There’s worse things than watching ‘Hawaii Five-0,’ the original one, on a Friday night eating some Breyers ice cream,” Laffey joked. “You haven’t heard the last from me. It just won’t be, at least for now, as a Republican candidate for president, and it won’t be as a Republican.”

That would be $18,000 — those numbers are not in millions or any other kind of abbreviation.

$18,000 over 3 months.

$6,000 a month.

I’m pretty sure I could raise $6,000 per month if I declared I was running for President!

Kind of ironic his name is “Laffey”.

Can’t believe this guy didn’t make it farther, he really seems to understand social media and good graphics….I mean, just check out the BOOK of text he put on this Tweet — because that’s easy to read!

pic.twitter.com/k6fhuZOk3V

— Steve Laffey (@stevelaffey) October 6, 2023

The Boston Globe tried to report on Laffey’s pull numbers, but then was forced to report that Laffey was not even mentioned in any recent polls:

Former Cranston mayor Steve Laffey ended his run for president on Friday, eight months after launching a long-shot bid for the Republican nomination.

Laffey, who had not qualified to take the stage during GOP presidential debates, also announced that he is leaving the GOP after more than 40 years as a registered Republican, and will be unaffiliated.

“The Republican Party has become a laughingstock,” Laffey said in a statement. “From a celebrity-driven race for the presidency, to disturbing events in the House of Representatives, it has become painfully apparent that the Republican Party no longer exists. What used to be a Grand Old Party is now simply a placard for anyone to say anything, no matter how hurtful, and no matter how false.”

Laffey, 61, who served a Cranston mayor from 2003 to 2007 before moving to Colorado, had told the Globe he has been living in New Hampshire, trying to break through in the presidential primary by focusing on issues such as Social Security and the Federal Reserve.

But Laffey had raised less than $158,000 for his presidential campaign, he did not register in many polls, and he is exiting the race two days after a new poll from Suffolk University, The Boston Globe, and USA TODAY found that likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters overwhelmingly favor former president Donald Trump as their party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential election.

That poll showed Trump at 49.4 percent, followed by Nikki Haley at 18.8 percent, and Ron DeSantis at 10.4 percent, but Laffey was not mentioned in the poll.

While most Republican presidential candidates have been reluctant to criticize Trump, Laffey has blasted him.

“Donald Trump is certainly the significant factor in this rapid movement towards authoritarianism and away from the core principles of freedom and economic growth,” Laffey said Friday. “As the first candidate to challenge the dominance of Trump’s influence, I believed that there was a yearning in the Republican heart for a candidate free from his shadow. However, the past eight months have proven me wrong.”

As always, attacking Donald Trump is the quickest path to getting yourself beaten down and out of the race.

Just 16 hours ago, this Tweet said he was the guy who was going to fix it all!

https://twitter.com/TFogiest/status/1710114186221506780

Today: HE GONE!

Longshot Presidential Hopeful Steve Laffey Ends 2024 Campaign, Leaves Republican Party https://t.co/7iCwMRiKiq pic.twitter.com/v7nTVtuAIY

— Messenger Politics (@MessengerPol) October 6, 2023

According to TheMessenger, not only is he dropping out of the race, but he’s also leaving the Republican Party:

Steve Laffey, the former mayor of Cranston, R.I., has officially ended his longshot bid for the White House and has decided to altogether depart from the Republican Party.

“Today, as I conclude my campaign and resign from the Republican Party, I hope that someone, somewhere, will pick up the torch and guide our great nation back to its true essence. But for now, it’s time for me to step aside,” Laffey said in a statement from his campaign.

Laffey has spent the last eight months on the campaign trail hoping to capture the support of constituents across America, however the candidate has not met any of the requirements needed to appear on the debate stage and boost his platform.

The former mayor, who launched his presidential campaign in February, was a registered Republican for 40 years.

“The Republican Party has become a laughingstock,” Laffey said. “From a celebrity-driven race for the Presidency, to disturbing events in the House of Representatives, it has become painfully apparent that the Republican Party no longer exists. What used to be a Grand Old Party is now simply a placard for anyone to say anything, no matter how hurtful, and no matter how false.”

Oh Laffey, please don’t go!

We only just now learned that you even exist, why leave now?

Ehhh, never mind, I think I’ll just go back to forgetting who you are.