Mike Pence’s exit from White House bid is winnowing of crowded field, rivals say

Departure could help Republican candidates but DeSantis and Haley, as well as Ramaswamy and Christie, still hugely trail Trump

Mike Pence's surprise withdrawal from the Republican presidential nomination race on Saturday is part of natural winnowing of the crowded field, rivals of the former vice-president said Sunday - and one that could help their quest of candidates to wrestle the nomination from overwhelming frontrunner Donald Trump.

In the end, the race is narrowing, which everyone said it would," said former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, one of Trump's fiercest Republican critics and one of four who have qualified for a third TV debate next month in Miami that may not have included Pence, who, he told CNN's State of the Union, had run a tough race, a good race".