GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman dropped out of the race Jan. 16, and called for peace within his political party.
The former Utah governor, who was also U.S. ambassador to China under President Barack Obama, also endorsed ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Huntsman finished third in the recent New Hampshire primary, behind Romney and Ron Paul. Tim Miller, Huntsman's spokesman, said that in South Carolinawhere the candidates are currently campaigning"it became clear that there wasn't a path forward," the Chicago Tribune reported.
Huntsman, who was more of a social moderate than most of the candidates, believed in civil unions for same-sex couplesbut not marriage.
In stepping down, Huntsman said, "This race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks not worthy of the American people and not worthy of this critical time in our nation's history."