Vanquished at Home, Marco Rubio Drops Out

Humiliating defeat seals the deal for Florida senator
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 15, 2016 7:36 PM CDT
Vanquished at Home, Marco Rubio Drops Out
Marco Rubio waits to speak during a campaign rally at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016.   (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Reeling from a decisive loss to Donald Trump in his home state of Florida, Marco Rubio suspended his campaign for the presidency Tuesday evening—sounding an upbeat note, while firmly poking Trump and negative tactics in the eye, reports the AP. Rubio told a crowd in Miami that he knows voters are angry and that there is a hunger for new faces and voices in government. "Do not give in to the fear," Rubio said as he suspended his bid and tried to sound optimistic about his party's future. "Do not give in to the frustration."

Both Rubio and John Kasich in recent days have refused to say whether they would support a Trump nomination. 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 US Senate. (Kasich, meanwhile, won Ohio Tuesday night.)

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