Marco Thanks Supporters, "I Am Grateful To All
Of You"
Miami, Florida Marco Rubio March 15,
2016 Transcript...
MARCO RUBIO:
First of all, thank you all for everything. I want to begin -- I
haven't had a chance to speak to him yet but I want to
congratulate Donald Trump on his victory, big victory in
Florida. We live in a republic and our voters make these
decisions and we respect that very much and it was a big win. I
want to begin by thanking all of you here today. And, I want you
to know that I am the beneficiary of the best group of
supporters, the hardest working people I have ever been
associated with and I'm so grateful to you guys, thank you. Not
just here in Florida. Not just here in Florida, but around the
country.
I want you to know that you worked as hard, not
just here, but all over the country. I want to talk to people in
Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina and in the great state
of Minnesota, where I won and territory of Puerto Rico and
Washington, D.C.. All over. We have a great team.
I'm so
grateful for all the help that you guys have given us. I just
want you to know that there is nothing more that you could have
done. You worked as hard as anyone could have worked. I want you
to know, we worked as hard as we ever could.
America is
in the middle of a real political storm, a real tsunami. And, we
should have seen this coming. Look, people are angry and people
are very frustrated. It really began back in 2007, 2008 with
this horrifying downturn. People are very frustrated about the
direction of our country. People are frustrated. In 2007 and
2008, there was a horrible downturn in our economy and these
changes to our economy that are happening are disrupting
people's lives. And people are very upset about it.
And
they’re told that, you know, people are angry, they are
frustrated, they’re being left behind by this economy and then
they are told, look, if you’re against illegal immigration that
makes you a bigot. And if you see jobs and businesses leaving to
other countries you have no right to be frustrated. They see
America involved in the world and Americans spending money and
losing their lives and they see that there is very little
gratitude for all the sacrifice America makes. And quite
frankly, there’s millions of people in this country that are
tired of being looked down upon. Tired of being told by these
self-proclaimed elitists that they don't know what they are
talking about and they need to instead listen to the so-called
smart people.
And I know all these issues firsthand.
I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck. I grew up paycheck to paycheck.
I know what it's like to have to figure out how to find the
money to fix the air conditioner that broke last night. I know
my parents struggled and I know millions of people that are
doing that.
I know immigration in America is broken. No
one understands this issue better than I do. My parents are
immigrants. My grandparents were immigrants. Jennette's parents
were immigrants. I live in a community of immigrants. I’ve seen
the good, and the bad, and the ugly. I’ve battled my whole life
against the so-called elites, the people who think that, you
know, I needed to wait my turn or wait in line or it wasn't our
chance or wasn't our time. So, I understand all of these
frustrations.
And yet, when I decide to do run for
president, I decided to run a campaign that was realistic about
all of these challenges. But, also one that was -- one that was
optimistic about what lies ahead for our country. I know that we
have a right to enforce our immigration laws, but we also have
to have a realistic approach to fix it. I know that we are
living through this extraordinary economic transformation that
is really disruptive in people's lives. Machines are replacing
them, their pay is not enough. I know it's disruptive. But, I
also know this new economy has incredible opportunity. I know
America can't solve all of the world's problems. But I also know
that when America doesn't lead, it leaves behind a vacuum and
that vacuum leads to chaos. And most of all, I know firsthand
that ours is a special nation because where you come from here
doesn't decide where you get to go. That's how a 44-year-old son
of a bartender and a maid, that's how I decide that, in fact, I
too can run for President of the United States of America.
So, from a political standpoint, the easiest thing to have
done in this campaign is to jump on all those anxieties I just
talked about, to make people angrier, make people more
frustrated. But I chose a different route and I'm proud of that.
That would have been -- in a year like this, that would have
been the easiest way to win. But that is not what's best for
America. The politics of resentment against other people will
not just leave us a fractured party, they are going to leave us
a fractured nation.
They are going to leave us as a
nation where people literally hate each other because they have
different political opinions. That we find ourselves at this
point is not surprising, for the warning signs have been here
for close to a decade. 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. And I blame
some of that on the conservative movement, a movement that is
supposed to be about our principles and our ideas. But I blame
most of it on our political establishment.
A political
establishment that for far too long has looked down at
conservatives, looked down at conservatives, as simple-minded
people. Looked down at conservatives as simply bomb-throwers. A
political establishment that for far too long has taken the
votes of conservatives for granted, and a political
establishment that has grown to confuse cronyism for capitalism,
and big business for free enterprise. I endeavored over the last
11 months to bridge this divide within our party and within our
country because I know that after eight years of Barack Obama
this nation needs a vibrant and growing conservative movement
and it needs a strong Republican Party to change the direction
now of this country or many of the things that are going wrong
in America will become permanent, and many of the things makes
us a special country will be gone. 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.
A conservative movement that believes in
the principles of our Constitution, that protects our rights and
limits the power of 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 formation of our nation.
But we also need a new political establishment in our party,
not one that looks down on people that live outside of the
District of Columbia, not one that tells young people that they
need to wait their turn and wait in line, and not one that's
more interested in winning elections than it is in solving
problems or standing by principles.
And this is the
campaign we’ve run, a campaign that is realistic about the
challenges we face but optimistic about the opportunities before
us. A campaign that recognizes the difficulties we face, but
also one that believes that we truly are on the verge of a New
American Century. And a campaign to be president, a campaign to
be a president that would love all of the American people, even
the ones that don't love you back.
This is the right way
forward for our party. This is the right way forward for our
country. But after tonight it is clear that while we are on the
right side, this year we will not be on the winning side. I take
great comfort in the ancient words which teaches us that in
their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes
their steps. And so yet, while this may not have been the year
for a hopeful and optimistic message about our future, I still
remain hopeful and optimistic about America.
And how can
I not? How can I not? My mother was one of seven girls born to a
poor family. Her father was disabled as a child. He struggled to
provide for them his entire life. My mother told us a few years
ago she never went to bed hungry growing up, but she knows her
parents did, so they wouldn't have to. She came to this country
in 1956 with little education, no money, no connections. My
parents struggled their first years here. They were discouraged.
They even thought about going back to Cuba at one point, but
they persevered. They never became rich. I didn't inherit any
money from my parents. They never became famous. You never would
have heard about them if I had never run for office. And yet I
consider my parents to be very successful people. Because in
this country, working hard as a bartender and a maid, they owned
a home and they retired with dignity. In this country, they
lived to see all four of their children live better off than
themselves. And in this country, on this day, my mother, who is
now 85 years old, was able to cast a ballot for her son to be
the President of the United States of America.
And so
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
have even come this far is evidence of how special America truly
is, and all the reason more why we must do all we can to ensure
that this nation remains a special place.
I ask the
American people, do not give in to the fear. Do not give in to
the frustration. We can disagree about public policy, we can
disagree about it vibrantly, passionately. But we are a hopeful
people, and we have every right to be hopeful. For we in this
nation are the descendants of go-getters. In our veins runs the
blood of people who gave it all up so we would have the chances
they never did. We are all the descendants of someone who made
our future the purpose of their lives. We are the descendants of
pilgrims. We are the descendants of settlers. We are the
descendants of men and women that headed westward in the Great
Plains not knowing what awaited them. We are the descendants of
slaves who overcame that horrible institution to stake their
claim in the American Dream. We are the descendants of
immigrants and exiles who knew and believed that they were
destined for more, and that there was only one place on earth
where that was possible. This is who we are, and let us fight to
ensure that this is who we remain. For if we lose that about our
country, we will still be rich and we will still be powerful,
but we will no longer be special.
And so I am grateful
to all of you that have worked so hard for me. I truly am. I am
grateful to my family, to my wife Jeanette who has been
phenomenal in this campaign. To my four kids who have been
extraordinary in this campaign. And I want you to know that I
will continue every single day to search for ways for me to
repay some of this extraordinary debt that I owe this great
country. And I want to leave with an expression of gratitude to
God in whose hands all things lie. He has a plan for every one
of our lives. Everything that comes from God is good. God is
perfect. God makes no mistakes. And he has things planned for
all of us. And we await eagerly to see what lies ahead. And so I
leave tonight with one final prayer, and I use the words of King
David because I remain grateful to God:
“Yours O Lord is
the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and
the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the
earth. Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and you exalt yourself as
head overall. Both riches and honor come from you and you rule
over all. And in your hand is power and might and it lies in
your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.” 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. Thank you and God bless you all. Thank
you very much.
###
Source:
Marco Rubio for
President 2016 Website |