Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tried to keep his composure as he announced the end of his campaign on Tuesday night (Mar. 15). The presidential candidate threw in the towel after coming in second to Trump in his home state during the Republican primary.
The Miami native made the announcement after he approached the podium at his rally at the Florida International University arena. During his farewell speech, Rubio spent ample time thanking his supporters for their hard work. “There’s nothing more you could have done,” Rubio said with a smile. “You worked as hard as anyone worked. I want you to know that we worked as we ever could.”
Rubio took a low blow in his campaign after losing in Florida to Trump. Sen. Ted Cruz trailed close to hang on to third place, while Ohio Governor John Kasich barely hit double digits. On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swiped the Sunshine State from Sen. Bernie Sanders.
As Rubio gracefully bowed out of the running, the 44-year-old Cuban politician attested that it was not in God’s plan for him to make it to the general election. However, he’s forever grateful and humbled that a descendent of Cuban immigrants could get so far.
“It is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever,” the Florida senator told the crowd. “America is in the middle of a real political storm, a real tsunami and we should have seen this coming.”
Watch his farewell speech in full below.