Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is currently seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2024, suggested that he might drop out of the race because he fails to qualify for the first GOP debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“If you can’t meet the minimum thresholds, you shouldn’t be trying to take time and volume away from people that do,” the 45-year-old mayor of Miami told reporters at the Iowa State Fair. “I don’t think candidates should just sort of linger around if they don’t have a credible path.”
Suarez’s remarks come after GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie argued that any Republican candidate who fails to reach the debate stage should drop out of the race for the White House.
“If you don’t make the debate stage, you should leave the field. I think it’s that simple. That’s the first winnowing process,” Christie told Fox News.
The first GOP debate is set to take place on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. Per the Republican National Committee, candidates must have at least 40,000 donors, respectively, to their campaigns, and must also register at least one percent in two national polls and one percent in two polls from separate early states. Suarez has yet to meet polling requirements.
“I think the minimum threshold is fair,” The Miami mayor said. “One of the things that I think is a bit unfair is that there’s a lot of polls that I haven’t been in, and it’s a disadvantage.”
Suarez expressed optimism about how he would perform should he participate in the first debate. “I think I’ll come out of that debate already making the next debate threshold, which is 3%,” he said. “I don’t think you can sort of gimmick your way there.”
NBC News asked the Republican mayor whether he was using a marketing scheme for his campaign. Suarez was recently spotted raffling soccer tickets to a Lionel Messi game in exchange for campaign contributions. Upon being asked about his raffling decision, Suarez said he’s doing what he must to reach the requirements needed for the first debate.
“The people who I’m running against right now are national figures for many, many years,” he said. “I’ve been a national figure for 60 days. So, fortunately for me, you’re sort of new, so you have a different threshold, a different time frame, and we’re going to have to compete at the same level.”
Suarez is not the only one who finds himself in jeopardy of reaching the next round in the GOP race. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has yet to meet the RNC’s fundraising requirements, and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson has not yet met the polling criteria, as reported by the New York Post. Conservative commentator Larry Elder and former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, have also not been successful in reaching the RNC’s requirements.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member