Marco Rubio ended his campaign for president after election results showed him a distant second in his home state of Florida Tuesday, slipping the announcement into a concession speech that reflected on his White House bid, assessed the tone of American politics, and advocated a robust conservatism.
“America needs a vibrant conservative movement. But one that’s built on principles and ideas, not on fear, not on anger, not on preying on people’s frustrations,” Rubio said on the grounds of Florida International University in Miami.
“A conservative movement that believes in the principles of our Constitution, that protects our rights and limits the power government. A conservative movement committed to the cause of free enterprise: the only economic model where everyone can climb without anyone falling. A conservative movement that believes in a strong national defense, and a conservative movement that believes in the strong Judeo-Christian values that are the formulation of our nation.”
Rubio said he was “proud” of avoiding the tone set by Donald Trump, though he briefly tried his hand at the acidic campaign style of the frontrunner after Super Tuesday. “That would have been, in a year like this, the easiest way to win. But that is not what’s best for America.”
Instead, Rubio echoed the themes of his campaign: a positive, uplifting vision rooted in his family’s biography, a conservative domestic policy, and a hawkish stance on international issues. Such a campaign message might have been on “the right side,” he said, while conceding that it wasn’t on “the winning side” this year.
“While it is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever, and while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that I’ve even come this far is evidence of how special America truly is, and the all reason more that we must do all we can to ensure that this nation remains a special place.”
Although Rubio congratulated Donald Trump on his Florida victory at the beginning of his remarks, he has become increasingly wary of the frontrunner in recent days, to the point that he said conservatives supporting the New York businessman will eventually say, “My God, what have we done?”
