Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Suspends Presidential Campaign

FILE - Republican presidential candidate Miami Mayor Francis Suarez speaks at the Republic
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File
Hannah Knudsen

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has suspended his presidential campaign two months after its initial launch.

Suarez, 45, formally jumped into the Republican primary race in mid-June and failed to gain steam throughout his short-lived run, which he teased weeks before. He did not make it to the Milwaukee debate stage on August 23 after failing to meet the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) criteria, despite expressing confidence in doing so less than a week away from the debate.

“I’m going to make the debate stage, I can tell you that,” he told NBC News less than a week before the debate.

After failing to meet the RNC’s criteria, Suarez’s campaign appeared to go quiet as critics pointed to his past remarks in which he agreed with the assertion that candidates who fail to meet basic debate requirements should drop out of the race.

“I’ve sort of always agreed with that. If you can’t meet the minimum thresholds, you shouldn’t be trying to take time and volume away from people that do,” Suarez told reporters during a stop at the Iowa State Fair.

“I don’t think candidates should just sort of linger around if they don’t have a credible path,” he added.

He appeared to stick to that opinion, formally suspending his campaign Tuesday in a lengthy statement posted to social media in which he made it clear that running for president has been “one of the greatest honors of my life”:

This country has given so much to my family and me. The prospect of giving back at the highest levels of public service is a motivator if not a calling. Throughout this process, I have met so many freedom-loving Americans who care deeply about our nation, her people, and its future.

He deemed it a “privilege” to come close to making the debate stage.

His statement continued:

I had looked forward to sharing the story of Miami, America’s most successful city, especially at a time when so many cities are plagued with poverty, unemployment, high taxes, violent crime, and homelessness. I know what we have achieved during my tenure leading the City of Miami can be replicated in every community in our great country. The next President must play a major role in getting America’s cities back on track to safety, prosperity and a better quality of life for all.

While I have decided to suspend my campaign for President, my commitment to making this a better nation for every American remains.

Suarez said he will continue to “amplify the voices of the Hispanic community,” urging the conservative movement to “continue doing more to include and attract this vibrant community that believes in our country’s foundational values: faith, family, hard work and freedom.”

The Miami mayor added that the Biden administration is “failing our country” and said he will continue to maintain contact with other GOP presidential candidates and do what he must to “make sure our party puts forward a strong nominee who can inspire and unify the country, renew Americans’ trust in our institutions and in each other, and win.”

As Breitbart News previously reported, “Suarez did not support Trump in either the 2016 or 2020 elections. He reportedly wrote in Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) name in 2016 and [former Vice President Mike] Pence in 2020.”

Tuesday’s Morning Consult poll showed Suarez polling at zero percent.

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