Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina drops out of the 2024 GOP presidential race

Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott announced late Sunday that he was dropping out of the 2024 race, about two months before the start of voting in Iowa's leadoff caucuses.

The South Carolina senator made the surprise announcement on Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy. 

The news was so abrupt that one campaign worker told The Associated Press that campaign staff found out Scott was dropping out by watching the show. 

The worker was not authorised to discuss the internal deliberations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The news comes as Scott, 58, continued to struggle in the polls and just days after the third Republican primary debate. 

The only Black Republican senator, Scott entered the race in May with more cash than any other Republican candidate but couldn't find a lane in a field dominated by former President Donald Trump.

He also appeared to rule out serving as vice president, saying the No. 2 slot has never been on his to-do list for this campaign, and it's certainly not there now.

Scott, a deeply religious former insurance broker, made his grandfather's work in the cotton fields of the Deep South a bedrock of his political identity and of his presidential campaign.

But he also refused to frame his own life story around the country's racial inequities, insisting that those who disagree with his views on the issue are trying to weaponise race to divide us and that the truth of my life disproves their lies.

He sought to focus on hopeful themes and avoid divisive language to distinguish himself from the grievance-based politics favoured by rivals including Trump and Florida Gov.