TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — One of the three Florida Republicans seeking the White House is now acknowledging he won't be on Wednesday's GOP debate stage.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has walked back his claim that he had qualified for the first primary showdown in Milwaukee. He posted a statement online earlier Tuesday afternoon.
In it, Suarez said he initially believed he had met the qualifications but was told by the Republican National Committee over the weekend that he was lacking the polling results required. Suarez said he was "sorry" that he wouldn't be included but ended by saying this:
"I respect the rules and process set forth by the RNC, and I look forward to working with my party to ensure we win back the White House and restore the path to a brighter future for our country," Suarez said.
The statement comes just a few days after Suarez told reporters at the Iowa State Fair those who don't make the cut should consider bowing out.
"If you can't make the minimum thresholds, you shouldn't be trying to take time and volume away from people that do," the mayor told reporters. "I feel confident that I'll make the debate stage in the next 10 days — I'll decide it then."
Regardless of what Suarez decides, political experts think this may be it for the city leader's presidential ambitions — at least in 2024.
"This is probably the death knell for Suarez's presidential campaign," said political science professor Sean Foreman of Barry University said. "You really need to be on that debate stage if you're gonna have any chance moving forward, especially someone like Francis Suarez, who isn't known nationally."
Florida's governor, meanwhile, is among the eight Republicans that did meet the RNC's requirements. He spent Monday ramping up with a rally in Fort Walton Beach. The governor's campaign expects DeSantis to be the target Wednesday night, hopeful his performance will change sagging poll numbers.
"We're prepared for the onslaught of attacks from candidates on and off stage, Republican and Democrat, and it doesn't matter," Carly Atchison, Team DeSantis spokeswoman, said. "This is an opportunity for Ron DeSantis to go on stage, share his forward-looking vision with the millions of Americans who are gonna tune in."
Even though he's skipping the debate, former President Donald Trump is still expected to play a role. Who will defend him? Who will hit him? And how much attention will Trump steal with a pre-recorded interview with Tucker Carlson? These are all questions that voters will be watching and waiting for.
"Of course, Donald Trump will be there, even if he's not physically present on the stage," Foreman said. "Most of the questions are going to be about him, and many of the responses are going to invoke him because he is the frontrunner. He's the one that the candidates need to get around."
Trump's super PAC already started to troll the other candidates. On Tuesday, it launched a website asking voters to pick which of the GOP rivals should be the former president's vice president.
The debate starts at 9 p.m. ET and runs until 11 p.m. on Fox News, though RNC officials said the broadcast will be streamed on Rumble.
