迈阿密市长弗朗西斯·苏亚雷斯在没有资格参加上周在密尔沃基举行的第一场共和党初选辩论后，他于周二宣布暂停总统竞选。
“竞选美国总统是我一生中最大的荣誉之一，”苏亚雷斯说。“这个国家给了我和我的家庭这么多。在最高级别的公共服务中回馈社会的前景是一种动力，如果不是一种召唤的话。在这一过程中，我遇到了如此多热爱自由的美国人，他们深切关心我们的国家、她的人民及其未来。在上周的第一场辩论中，我非常荣幸能和其他候选人一起出现在舞台上。”
苏亚雷斯补充说:“虽然我已经决定暂停竞选总统，但我仍然致力于为每个美国人创造一个更美好的国家。”
2023年7月28日，共和党总统候选人迈阿密市长弗朗西斯·苏亚雷斯在爱荷华州得梅因举行的爱荷华州共和党2023年林肯晚宴上发表讲话。
查理·内伯戈尔/美联社
这一决定标志着他的团队和共和党全国委员会就他是否会登上舞台进行了数天的争论。
最终，RNC说他没有达到他们所有的民意调查和捐助基准——尽管他声称并非如此。
他发布了一段社交媒体视频，称自己已经获得资格，并敦促支持者收听。
“能够向整个国家传递我的繁荣信息，向这个国家介绍我自己，我感到非常兴奋，”他说。“对于我们的国家和我们的城市来说，这是一个不可思议的时刻的开始。我希望你们都能观看并成为其中的一部分。”
市长的竞选团队还与美联社分享了一封电子邮件的部分内容，他说他收到了RNC工作人员的邮件，邮件显示委员会已经为他的竞选在密尔沃基预订了100多张票。
但该媒体后来报道称，市长团队忽略了电子邮件交流的一部分，其中包括一项免责声明，即如果苏亚雷斯未能满足辩论标准，门票将被取消。
45岁的苏亚雷斯在6月份宣布参选，广告显示他在迈阿密跑步，他将自己定位为一个有效的领导人，拥有白宫所需的年轻人。
但他的竞选活动因失言和噱头而变得更加出名，在接受电台主持人休·休伊特(Hugh Hewitt)采访时，他似乎不知道维吾尔人，这是中国西部受压迫的少数民族。
“什么是维吾尔人?”他问休伊特。
为了满足4万名个人捐助者的辩论标准，苏亚雷斯向为他的竞选活动捐赠1美元的人提供了不同寻常的奖励，包括参加莱昂内尔·梅西(Lionel Messi)在美国职业足球大联盟(Major League)首场比赛门票的抽奖。
辩论前一周，苏亚雷斯建议无法获得第一场辩论资格的候选人应该考虑退出竞选，他告诉美国广播公司新闻的雷切尔·斯科特，“老实说，我认为，记住，从这里开始只会变得更难，对吗?”
“如果你不降低门槛，就很难提高门槛。”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez suspends 2024 Republican primary campaign
Miami MayorFrancis Suarezannounced Tuesday that he is suspending his campaign for president after failing to qualify for the first Republican primary debate last week in Milwaukee.
"Running for President of the United States has been one of the greatest honors of my life," Suarez said. "This country has given so much to my family and me. The prospect of giving back at the highest levels of public service is a motivator if not a calling. Throughout this process, I have met so many freedom-loving Americans who care deeply about our nation, her people, and its future. It was a privilege to come so close to appearing on stage with the other candidates at last week's first debate."
"While I have decided to suspend my campaign for President, my commitment to making this a better nation for every American remains," Suarez added.
The decision marks days of disputed back and forth between his team and the Republican National Committee over whether he would make it on the stage.
Ultimately, the RNC said he hadn't met all of their polling and donor benchmarks -- despite claiming otherwise.
He had released a social media video saying he had qualified and urging supporters to tune in.
"I am so excited to be able to deliver my message of prosperity to the entire nation, to introduce myself to the nation," he said. "This is the beginning of an incredible moment for our country and for our city. I want you all to watch and be a part of it."
The mayor's campaign also shared with the Associated Press portions of an email he said he had received from RNC staff which indicated the committee had reserved more than 100 tickets in Milwaukee for his campaign.
But the outlet later reported that the mayor's team had omitted a portion of the email exchange which included a disclaimer that the tickets would be canceled if Suarez failed to meet the debate criteria.
The 45-year-old Suarez, who announced his candidacy in June with an ad showing him running through Miami, pitched himself as an effective leader with the youthful presence needed in the White House.
But his campaign became more known for gaffes and gimmicks, as when in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt he appeared to not know about the Uyghurs, a repressed ethnic minority in western China.
“What’s a Uyghur?” he asked Hewitt.
And in an effort to meet the debate criteria of 40,000 individual donors, Suarez had offered unusual rewards for people who gave his campaign a single dollar, including entrance into a raffle for tickets to Lionel Messi's first game in Major League Soccer.
The week before the debate, Suarez suggested that candidates unable to qualify for the first debate should consider dropping out of the race, telling ABC News' Rachel Scott, "Being honest, I think, remember, it only gets harder from here, right?"
"It's harder to make higher thresholds when you're not making lower thresholds."
