After a crushing defeat in his own home state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio has withdrawn from the presidential race. He made the announcement from his Miami campaign headquarters, noting “After tonight, it is clear that while we are on the right side this year, we will not be on the winning side.”
With his Cuban-American heritage and youthful energy, Rubio was once considered a beacon of hope for a Republican party that so desperately needed to inject diversity into its ranks. But he proved to be no match for Donald Trump, who has instead taken this entire Republican nomination race hostage by galvanizing its angry right wing fringe element, stoking nativist and racist sentiment with his inflammatory rhetoric.
Rubio would have made history as the party’s first Latino nominee (a barrier that could still be broken by Ted Cruz.)
In the meantime, it sounds like Rubio has a few back up options ready and waiting, should he choose to move on from politics. Within minutes of his withdrawal announcement, the producer of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette has already extended Rubio an invitation:
https://twitter.com/theyearofelan/status/709900617687261184