Rick Perry drops out of presidential race

Former Texas governor Rick Perry announced that he was suspending his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

"I give you this news with no regrets. It has been a privilege for me, it has been an honour to travel this country, to speak with the American people about their hopes and their dreams, to see a sense of optimism being prevalent despite this season of cynical politics," Efe news agency reported him as saying on Friday.

Perry, whose withdrawal leaves 16 candidates vying for the Republican nomination field, is currently polling at 0.8 percent, according to the Web site Real Clear Politics.

"We have a tremendous field, the best in a generation, so I step aside knowing our party is in good hands," the Texan said.

The man who governed the Lone Star state for more than a decade ended his second bid for the White House by warning the Republican Party against "nativist appeals that divide the nation further."

"The answer to our current divider-in-chief is not to elect a Republican divider-in-chief," Perry said, clearly referring to the anti-immigrant rhetoric of current The Republican Party (GOP) front-runner Donald Trump, though he did not mention his name.

"Demeaning people of Hispanic heritage is not just ignorant, it betrays the example of Christ. We can enforce our laws and our borders, and we can love all who live within our borders, without betraying our values," Perry said.

Media outlets have been reporting for weeks that Perry's campaign was running out of money.

Perry mounted a well-financed campaign for the Republican nomination in 2012 and lead in the polls for a time, but a poor performance in the debates derailed his candidacy.