Ben Carson, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race just last week, will endorse front-runner Donald Trump on Friday.

Trump confirmed the endorsement during the Republican presidential debate Thursday night.

The retired neurosurgeon plans to hold a press conference at 9 a.m. ET Friday to announce his support, sources told Fox News.

The backing from the outsider ex-candidate, who captivated conservative voters with his unconventional campaign, could give Trump a boost as the candidates charge into critical primaries next Tuesday in Florida, Ohio and three other states.

It also serves as a potential counterweight as other ex-candidates weigh in against him. Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina endorsed Ted Cruz earlier this week, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is meeting with Trump’s rivals, though it’s unclear whether he might endorse someone before Tuesday.

The Washington Post first reported on Carson’s expected endorsement. Sources told the Post that Carson agreed to the endorsement after a meeting with Trump at the billionaire's Mar-a-Lago luxury home in Palm Beach, Fla.

As Trump builds his delegate lead with a string of recent primary wins, the GOP candidates also faced off at a debate Thursday night in Miami.

Earlier on Thursday, Carson said he was "certainly leaning" toward endorsing Trump over Texas Sen. Cruz, during an interview with Fox News Radio's John Gibson.

"There are two Donald Trumps," Carson told Gibson. "There's the Donald Trump that you see on television and who gets out in front of big audiences, and there's the Donald Trump behind the scenes. They're not the same person."

He said the other Donald Trump is “actually a thinking individual” and “someone you can reason with very easily.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/03/10/ben-carson-to-endorse-trump.html?intcmp=hpbt1

I could definitely see Dr. Carson holding a position in Mr. Trump's administration maybe Vice President or Surgeon General. I could also see Governor Christie as Attorney General.

I don't remember but I wonder if that means Mr. Trump will get their Delegates. Dr. Carson had like 40-50 and Governor Christie had a few.

I don't see Governor Kasich in the race after next Tuesday, even if he wins Ohio there's no way he would get the nomination even if he won every primary until the convention. I did notice that Governor Kasich got the Governators endorsement this week.

I could definitely see Governor Kasich endorsing Mr. Trump.

I guarantee Rubio will be out after Tuesday. I read his top donors are begging him to get out of the race now, before Tuesday because a loss in Florida could mean trouble for his re-election and his job approval rating polls in Florida are in the toilet and Mr. Trump is leading by a large margin in the polls in Florida.

The establishment is running scared. They are pulling out all the stops to try and defeat Mr. Trump, and it is only helping him!

It just came out today that Mitt Romney filed papers with the FEC to run for President last month, clearly he is trying for a brokered convention.

It's pretty bad when the GOP is going against the will of the people and trying to derail a campaign to they can hand pick who they want in the White House.