WASHINGTON — (CNN) Ben Carson on Friday ended his presidential bid, announcing he is “leaving the campaign trail.”

“But even though I might be leaving the campaign trail, you know there’s a lot of people who love me. They just won’t vote for me, but it’s OK. It’s not a problem. I will still continue to be heavily involved in trying to save our nation,” Carson told the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, which gave him a standing ovation when he made the announcement.

On Wednesday, the retired neurosurgeon announced that he didn’t see “a political path forward” for his campaign.

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