Trey Gowdy was caught completely off guard.
Viewers had no idea of what to make of what they saw happen on Gowdy’s show.
And Trey Gowdy was left speechless by this major 2024 announcement made on live TV.
Normally everything that happens on a cable news show is well scripted and stage managed to avoid surprises.
But that wasn’t the case on Sunday night.
Fox News host Trey Gowdy’s friendship with GOP Presidential hopeful Tim Scott is well-documented.
But Scott stunned Gowdy by announcing live on the air that he was suspending his Presidential campaign due to low poll numbers both nationally and in Iowa.
Gowdy began the interview by asking Scott about how he was feeling after Scott canceled his weekend campaign events in Iowa over a case of the flu.
“How are you feeling and when are you gonna get back on the campaign trail?” Gowdy wondered.
“I’ve been drinking a lot of water,” Scott responded. “I’ll be down for another couple days. But I’m looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail.”
However, Scott said he wouldn’t be back in Iowa as a Presidential candidate, as Scott said it was clear voters didn’t take to his message of Bush-era Republicanism and rock-solid support for the war in Ukraine.
“But when I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a Presidential candidate,” Scott said. “I am suspending my campaign. I think the voters, who are the most remarkable people on the planet have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim.’ I don’t think they’re saying, Trey, ‘No,’ but I do think they’re saying, ‘Not now.’ So, I’m gonna respect the voters and I’m gonna hold on and keep working really hard, and look forward to the other opportunity.”
Scott was also likely to miss the cut for the fourth GOP debate, and he didn’t have anywhere near the poll numbers to reach the eight percent threshold in a national poll.
Rather than suffer the humiliation of being dropped from the debate stage, Scott bowed out on his own terms.
Gowdy was taken aback, as he clearly had no idea Scott planned this move, and brought up the fact that Scott still had tens of millions of dollars sitting in a Super PAC to keep his campaign afloat.
“You are– you are suspending your Presidential campaign?” Gowdy asked. “You have plenty of money. You have the highest approval of any candidate that is running and you’re– you’re a couple of states from coming to a state where you are beloved, and you are suspending your Presidential campaign?”
“I’m trying to process this information and I’m trying to do it on live television, so forgive me,” Gowdy added.
The simple fact is no other Republican has gained traction as Donald Trump has dominated the race.
Trump leads the field by nearly 50 points nationally and 30 points in Iowa and New Hampshire.
There is no sign the trajectory of the race is changing, so candidates are beginning to drop out before their lack of support is made official for all to see when they can’t make the debate stage or when they officially start counting votes.
