Giuliani Abandons Presidential Race, Endorses McCain
Rudy Giuliani withdrew from the Republican presidential race and endorsed rival John McCain a day after finishing third in the Florida primary on which he had staked his campaign.
“John McCain is the most qualified candidate to be commander-in-chief of the United States. He is an American hero,” Giuliani said with McCain by his side at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Giuliani, the former mayor of New York who led the Republican field in public opinion polls last October, received 15 percent of the vote in Florida, behind McCain’s 36 percent and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s 31 percent. Both Giuliani and McCain, an Arizona senator, campaigned on their national security credentials and competed for independent voters.