In an emotional, but gracious concession speech Tuesday evening, former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said while it is not God's plan for him to be president this year, "the fact that I've even come this far is evidence of how special America truly is." The 44-year-old former and first-term senator from Florida suspended his campaign after losing his home state primary to Donald Trump Tuesday.
"America is in the middle of a real political storm, a real tsunami, and we should have seen this coming," Rubio said.
"While we are on the right side," he said," this year, we will not be on the winning side."
One of his supporters Kerry Ford posted on Rubio's Facebook page Wednesday morning: "Thank you, Senator Rubio, for running for President. You had some bumps along the road, but always stayed true to your optimistic vision of our great country's future. I have never been so inspired by a political figure before, and I truly believe you would have been a phenomenal President. You have my respect both as an individual and as a politician, and I hope and pray that you will run for President again when our country is less divided and hateful."
"We live in a republic and our voters make these decisions," Rubio said in Miami Tuesday night as his supporters booed Trump's victory. Basically referencing Trump's tactics, Rubio warned that it would have been easier for him during his campaign to exploit the anger and anxiety driving the race. He warned that the politics of division were going to leave America a "fractured nation."
His campaign slogan was "a new American century," as he tried to send the message that America needed a new generation of leadership that could deal with the challenges ahead. It was also a way to spin his relative youth, and short time in the U.S. Senate as an advantage, reports CNN.
U.S. Senator and former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio hugs his family after he announced that he is suspending his campaign at an event in Miami, Fla., March 15, 2016.
In his speech, Rubio asked Americans not to give into the fear, the frustration. "We can disagree about public policy, we can disagree about it vibrantly, even passionately. But we are a hopeful people, and we have every right to be hopeful, for we in this nation are descendents of go-getters, pilgrims, settlers."
"Let us fight to ensure this is who we remain. If we lose this, we will be rich, we'll still be powerful, but we'll no longer be special," he reasoned.
Rubio concluded his speech with an expression of gratitude to God, "in whose hands all things lie."
After competing in a presidential primary with more than a dozen candidates, the optimistic Cuban-American said it "is not God's plan that I be president in 2016, or maybe ever."
Rubio said God has a plan for everyone's lives. "Everything that comes from God is good. God is perfect. God makes no mistakes. We wait eagerly to see what lies ahead."
