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March 16, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Senator Marco Rubio announced last night that he is suspending his presidential campaign after losing the presidential primary in his home state by 19 percentage points.

Donald Trump trounced Rubio in Florida, winning all but one county, Miami-Dade.

“While it is not God’s plan to 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,” he told a crowd of supporters in Florida last night.

The hashtag #GoodbyeRubioTuesday began trending on Twitter almost immediately.

Rubio tried to fill the gap left by Jeb Bush's implosion as the “Establishment candidate,” enjoying support among the GOP's donor class and building bridges to social conservatives through hardline rhetoric on abortion.

However, in a year of political outsiders, the freshman senator's embrace of inside-the-Beltway Republican orthodoxy – modest tax reforms, a hawkish foreign policy, and granting amnesty to 12 million illegal immigrants – spelled his political doom.

A radically different Rubio emerged at the podium last night than the Bush family protégé who became the most outspoken member of the “Gang of Eight.”

The 2016 election is “a real tsunami, and we should have seen this coming,” he said.

In 2010, the Tea Party wave carried me and others into office because not enough was happening, and that Tea Party wave gave Republicans a majority in the House, but nothing changed. In 2014, those same voters gave Republicans a majority in the Senate and, still, nothing changed,” he said.

The “political establishment” has “looked down at conservatives” and “taken the votes of conservatives for granted,” he stated.

The senator still worked in a few digs at Trump, blasting “the politics of resentment” and telling a protester, “Don't worry, you won't get beaten up at our rally.”

After quoting King David, he concluded his speech by saying, “May God strengthen our people. May God strengthen our nation. May God strengthen the conservative movement. May God strengthen the Republican party. May God strengthen our eventual nominee, and may God always bless and strengthen this great nation, the United States of America.”

Rubio began his campaign by announcing a “3-2-1” strategy – moving from a third place finish in Iowa to second in New Hampshire, then first in numerous states – but it faltered from the start. He finished fifth in New Hampshire and remained mired in third place most of the race. He won only two caucuses in Minnesota and Washington, D.C. and one primary in Puerto Rico.

His frequent absences from the Senate, skipping what Rubio sometimes called “show votes” such as defunding Planned Parenthood, became a campaign issue.

Two of those who endorsed him – first, former Senator Rick Santorum, then Congressman Crescent Hardycouldn't name a single accomplishment Rubio had as a senator.

His campaign hit a low point as he made a remark belittling the size of Donald Trump's genitalia. He later apologized, saying the remark embarrassed his children.

For his part, Trump was conciliatory in his victory speech, saying Rubio is “tough, he's smart and he's got a great future.”

The exact contours of that future are unclear. However, he may run for governor of Florida in 2018 when incumbent Republican Rick Scott leaves office.