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Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks at the National Religious Broadcasters convention Friday, Feb. 26, in Nashville, Tenn. | AP Photo Ben Carson: I'm staying in the race

Ben Carson says he isn’t going anywhere.

Despite finishing near the bottom of the Republican field in every contest so far, the retired neurosurgeon blasted calls for him to drop out of the 2016 presidential race in a Fox News opinion piece Monday.

"It seems to get nastier at every turn, as campaign flacks dressed up as journalists line up to savage candidates whose campaigns they see as a threat to their preferred politician" Carson writes. "Some have even gone so far as to question my faith, integrity or party loyalty because I won’t kowtow to their demands to step away from the primary process."

"Hundreds of thousands of supporters drafted me to run, and hundreds of thousands more continue to push me onward," according to Carson, who is polling at 9 percent in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls — down from a high of nearly 25 percent in November.

“Despite what you may read in the media, millions of people have already stood up in agreement. This campaign has gained momentum, and I continue to be honored and humbled by the many people who put their faith in me,” Carson continues.

Only four states have voted, Carson notes, arguing there is still a chance for the tide to change in his favor.

“That is why I won’t listen as the pundits and politicians decree from on high. I refuse to play by Washington’s political rule book, or subjugate myself to the whims of the political class,” he says. “At times this decision has put me at a disadvantage, subjecting my supporters to underhanded tricks from other campaigns. No doubt my refusal to play the typical Washington games feeds into why so many D.C. pundits think I should leave the race.”