California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy has taken himself out of the race to fill John Boehner’s seat as Speaker for the House of Representatives, on the very day that he was expected to be nominated for the position.

As previously reported, McCarthy recently took a lot of flak from Democrats and fellow Republicans after he seemed to brag to Fox News host Sean Hannity about how the Benghazi oversight committee had succeeded in hurting Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

"Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?" McCarthy asked the Fox host before saying, "But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she's untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought."

These comments did not go over well and may have seriously hurt the 50-year–old politician's public career.

McCarthy said, “Over the last week it has become clear to me that our conference is deeply divided and needs to unite behind one leader.”

As the New York Times reports, McCarthy said, “I have always put this conference ahead of myself. Therefore I am withdrawing my candidacy for speaker of the House. I look forward to working alongside my colleagues to help move our conference’s agenda and our country forward.”

McCarthy acknowledged that his remarks about Benghazi had played a part in his decision to leave the race.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., lamented McCarthy’s decision, saying, “Kevin McCarthy is the best person to lead the House, and so I’m disappointed in this decision.”

McCarthy faced opposition from House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida.