Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio dropped out of the race for president Tuesday, ending his White House bid after a humbling loss in his home state to Donald Trump.
“It is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever,” the Florida senator told a crowd of supporters in Miami.
While he didn’t name Trump, Rubio warned against embracing his brand of divisive politics: “I ask the American people, do not give into the fear, do not give into the frustration,” he said.
Rubio’s decision was prompted by losses in all but three of the presidential nomination contests, but Florida’s winner-take-all primary proved the most devastating. Only six years earlier, he was a tea party favorite who crushed the GOP’s “establishment” candidate to win a seat in the U.S. Senate.
But the political tables turned on him in the 2016 presidential race, where he was lambasted as mainstream in a year when voters cried out for an outsider.
In the final week, he dedicated time and resources almost exclusively to the Sunshine State, urging voters to stop Trump from “hijacking” the Republican Party. He went so far as to tell his supporters in Ohio to vote for Buckeye State governor John Kasich since his chances were better to win there.
Despite his intense rivalry with Trump, Rubio only indirectly criticized him during much of the campaign. He pivoted to an all-out assault on the businessman’s character and ethics after a dismal Super Tuesday performance March 1, when he clinched only one of the 11 contests.
In recent weeks, the attacks deviated from policy to personal. At one point, Rubio equated Trump’s small hands with his manhood. But the strategy backfired with voters and donors and Rubio later said he regretted the attacks.
Like other Republicans, Rubio had pledged to support the eventual GOP nominee. But, in recent days, he expressed having second thoughts. He told reporters Saturday that the chaos and divisiveness at Trump’s rallies, including the one in Chicago canceled last week, had made it harder for him to view the front-runner as a viable candidate.
The 44-year-old senator had seemed destined for the national spotlight. Time magazine placed him on its cover in early 2013, dubbing him the “Republican Savior.”
In under a decade, he had gone from West Miami commissioner to state legislator to Florida House Speaker. In 2010, he challenged a sitting governor for a U.S. Senate seat and won after starting more than 50 percentage points behind in the polls, catapulted by a wave of tea party supporters.
He launched his presidential campaign at the Miami Freedom Tower, where tens of thousands of his fellow Cuban-Americans had been processed as refugees. He promised lower taxes, less regulation, tighter federal spending, modernized immigration laws, and the repeal and replacement of ObamaCare.
At the time, Rubio’s friend and one-time mentor, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, seemed his biggest hurdle to get to the Oval Office.
Enter Trump. By mid-summer, he turned the Bush-Rubio rivalry into a telenovela without the sizzle. Bush dropped out after the Feb. 20 South Carolina primary.
In the Iowa caucuses, Rubio came in a better-than-expected third place, nearly beating Trump for second. He then banked on a big showing in New Hampshire but a stunningly poor debate performance — in which he frequently repeated talking points and was called “scripted” by rival Chris Christie — led to a dismal fifth place.
“Our disappointment tonight is not on you. It’s on me,” he told supporters that night.
Rubio came in second in South Carolina and Nevada, but on March 1, Super Tuesday, he collected just one win in 11 contests.
The final blow came two weeks later, at home.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
With last night’s voting results it is almost certain that Mr. Trump will be the Republican nominee. (In full disclosure, I voted for Mr. Cruz in the Minnesota caucus.) I just hope that Mr. Trump is smart enough to know what he doesn’t know and that he chooses quality advisors. It would be hard to imagine Mr. Trump losing to Ms. Clinton and all of her negative history and character. I know that Mr. Trump has waffled on many key issues throughout the years, but he has been in the public eye for many years. And it’s hard to imagine him staying the same on every issue his entire life. So, I hope the Trump voters are happy, and I hope we’re all happy in the next few years. Hey, carny, start the rollercoaster!! Let’s go!!
Marco Rubio ran in a tough election cycle. His chances might have been better if Donald Trump had not entered the race. Unlike some of the other presidential candidates, Sen. Rubio has several more presidential election cycles ahead of him. Hopefully he will use the time between now and then to increase his stature on the national stage.
With the exception of immigration I agree overwhelmingly with the senator. He has the potential to be a good president. It’s just not going to happen this time around.
Marco Rubio lost his higher political potential when he started talking garbage against President Obama & Candidate Hillary Clinton. If he wants to be elected in a national level post, he better have support of the African American electorate. But the way he is treating President Obama, he could never expect the black voters to forget that. I am an Asian American & I’m so disgusted the way he attacks President Obama. Rubio is also too arrogant. When he was asked by Chuck Todd during an interview if he would accept an offer from Trump to be his VP, he responded by saying: “I don’t want to be Vice President, but to be the president”. I found that respond from him so self-centered. He should act humbly for this is USA. His last name is Rubio & not Kennedy or Jackson.
Perhaps now Marco can start showing up for work to do the job he was elected to do here in Florida.
Personally with the worst voting record in the Senate, I hope this is the absolute end of his “public service”.
I wonder if he will be able to get a “real Job”.
He’s a politician and not a president. Has he ever HAD a real job since he entered politics? marco’s track record in the senate is dismal. He needs to change that 180 degrees, I agree. Even the worst reps here in Texas at least vote.
marco is NOT a conservative, not with his ties to the “gang of 8” As soon as I read about those ties, I discounted him completely as a conservative..
Sad Marco has dropped out.
He would have made a great President.
So sad to see Americans choose a vain, vulgar, arrogant disgusting man
Over Marco who is a God Fearing
Christian.
Fare thee well ” little Marco.” The Republicans thought they had it all together in backing you as their presidential nominee and it backfired. Whether you choose to believe it or not the people in the USA are angry and fed up with the establishment, and that is why Donald Trump is a winner and you the loser.
GOP leadership is NOT listening to US the voters. And that was apparent when we found out they want to trash Trump any way they can. And they hate Cruz. It’s almost funny if it wasn’t so pathetically obvious. The “establishment” is running scared. Neither candidate is going to treat them well. they have not treated US well for a long time. The revolution, Ron Paul has talked about is happening and both parties are NOT going to like it. Revamp is what is needed.
Fare thee well “little Marco.” You were the choice of the Republicans as nominee for the presidency and it backfired. You see Rubio the people in America are very angry and are sick and tired of the establishment “hand picking” their nominee as POTUS ignoring the will of We the People. This is why Donald Trump is a winner and you “little Marco” are the loser.
He should use his elephant ears to cover his crying face last night. Sorry, i just dislike guy so much;
He tried to fool all of us with his pro-spanish propaganda CNN style, but he made fool out of himself. Whole Minnesota should be embarrassed to ,for there obviously stupid pick.
,Castro family is not that tough as Donald, u might have better success there.
If that again don’t work for u , how about- bartender in one of the Trumps hotels
Rubio was NEVER qualified to be the president…and he never WILL be. His parentage determined his status as a non-natural-born citizen, which forever bars him from that office. (for those – shall we say, “challenged”? – individuals who are not aware, the Rube was born to TWO non-US citizens who did NOT become naturalized until he was between 4 and 5 years old).
So no matter how well or poorly he does in the future(Floridians would be idiots to re-elect this missing-in-action clod to the Senate, for example), he will NOT have the office of the presidency. EVER.
Your argument concerning Rubio’s citizenship won’t get anywhere. If you want to oppose him, do so on his political policies. Both Rubio and Cruz would qualify as a US citizen.
Arthur-
You may be right on Rubio, but Cruz is a question mark as to US citizenship. Under the provisions of the 14th Amendment, the Rube is a citizen, he’s just not “natural born,” for simply because he was born on US soil does NOT make him ‘Natural Born.”
The First Congress, realizing that the Constitution did not define the phrase, made it Law(in their Second Session) that in order to be considered “natural born,” BOTH parents had to have been citizens of one of the States of the Union, with exceptions made for those born prior to the Revolution. This position was perfectly in keeping with Vattel’s “Law of Nations,” which had been published about 30 years before the First Congress was elected. In it, Vattel stated that in EVERY nation, both parents had to be Citizens of that country before the child could be considered “natural born.” SCOTUS ruled on this issue several times, at least twice subsequent to the 14th Amendment(which, btw, contains ZERO language regarding the phrase “natural born”). In at least one of these decisions, Vattel was cited as the authority.
In addition, S511, a Senate resolution made during questions about McCain’s eligibility(he was born in Panama to two US citizens) ALSO cited the First Congress, Second Session’s Law – for in addition to the 2 citizen-parents rule, there is ALSO a provision that as long as BOTH parents are Citizens at the time of the child’s birth, it is STILL considered to be “natural born” no matter WHERE it is born, too! (Said this to cut off the notion that since this law is “so old, it’s no longer valid.” If it’s “invalid,” then why did the Senate cite it as their justification for McCain’s eligibility?)
Cruz is a different story. He freely admits to having been a Canadian citizen until 2014. It is claimed that he held “dual citizenship,” but Canadian Law during that time frame expressly prohibited any form of dual citizenship. As of this writing, Cruz has not released any details in RE: his birth or citizenship, or especially how he managed to acquire US citizenship in less than 2 years…and in any case, since his father was NEVER a US citizen, he, too, would be ineligible under the “natural born” REQUIREMENT that the Constitution lists.
This is the situation. i don’t have to consider ANYthing either of them have to say, because neither one of them can EVER BE a Lawful, that is, Constitutionally-compliant president.
Feel free to google up “first congress second session natural born” to see if i’m right; while you’re at it, you may also wish to google “natural born supreme court” and read the rulings or at least, the relevant parts thereof. Minor v. Happersatt, iirc, was one of them.
All that said, you’re perfectly free to vote for anyone you want, even Foghorn Leghorn or the Man in the Moon – your vote just won’t be counted, that’s all. And if you vote for someone Constitutionally UNqualified, you’re also throwing your vote away…or worse, ensuring that an Oathbreaker will get an office he or she’s not qualified for…and getting another D’OweBama as a likely outcome.
Remember also, if you will, that the Constitution is the SUPREME law of the land. This means that absent a lawfully-ratified Amendment(3/4’s of States concurring, which would be 37 or 38 States), there can be NO SCOTUS ruling, no Congressional Law passed, and no Executive Order issued which invalidates, changes, adds to or takes from the Supreme Law – otherwise, it would not BE supreme, would it? In order to be Lawful, any change to the Constitution MUST go through the Amendment process. If you doubt that the Constitution is the Supreme Law, i refer you to Article 6 of that document to which ALL gov’t employees swear their fealty.
One of the oldest SCOTUS decisions in US History, that of Marbury v. Madison, makes this point extremely clear:
“The general misconception is that any statute passed by legislators bearing bearing the appearance of law constitutes the law of the land. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and any statute, to be valid, must be in agreement. It is impossible for a law which violates the Constitution to be valid. This is succinctly stated as follows: ‘All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void.’
Marbury vs. Madison, 5 US (2 Cranch) 137, 174, 176, (1803)
And here are more citations in support:
‘When rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them.’
Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 US 436 p. 491.
‘An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed.’
Norton vs. Shelby County 118 US 425 p. 442
‘The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void, and ineffective for any purpose; since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment, and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it. No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it.’
16 Am Jur 2nd, Sec 177 late 2d, Sec 256
It seams that the participation of Trump to be a President for the Republican party is very probably the product of an undercover agreement between Hillary and him. If Hillary or Trump are elected president the destruction of America start by Obama will not stop.
For Rubio the best thing to do now is endorsing Ted Cruz, and the same need to do by all the other Republicans candidates to the presidency. If all they do that there is still a chance to defeat Trump.
Ferdinand-
Somehow, i don’t believe that an endorsement by someone UNQUALIFIED for the office of president for another who is ALSO unqualified for the presidency will hold much water. Rubio endorsing Cruz would be like a Muslim immigrant to Germany endorsing a Frenchman for the German presidency…the Muslim can’t hold the office, and neither can the Frenchman.
You really should bone up on what the phrase “natural born” means, and why the F&F considered it SO IMPORTANT that they made it a REQUIREMENT to hold the office of the presidency.
It is pretty damn bad when the people in your own state don’t even vote for you. The only reason he does not like Trump is that if Trump becomes President Little Marco will lose his free ride. The boy never worked a day in his life.
William-
Based on what i’m hearing from Floridians posting on this blog, they’re mighty tired of the Rube collecting checks for being a Senator, yet not DOING HIS DAMN JOB by being there to vote on issues important to Florida Citizens.
If the Rube doesn’t start EARNING HIS KEEP, i suspect that intelligent Floridians will vote him OUT next election cycle.
Maybe he can get a job cleaning up after the Marielitos.