Miami Mayor Francis Suarez spent months struggling to get the campaign donations, attention and support he needed to keep his long-shot quest for the Republican presidential nomination alive.

That ended Tuesday, when Suarez announced he would be suspending his campaign, making him the first Republican to drop out of a nomination contest that is both crowded and heavily favoring former President Donald Trump.

“While I have decided to suspend my campaign for President, my commitment to making this a better nation for every American remains," Suarez said in a statement.

“I look forward to keeping in touch with the other Republican presidential candidates and doing what I can to make sure our party puts forward a strong nominee who can inspire and unify the country, renew Americans’ trust in our institutions and in each other, and win.”

Suarez did not offer his endorsement to any of the remaining candidates.

Suarez failed to make the debate stage in Milwaukee, despite having reached, he claimed, the threshold for 40,000 individual donors. In his quest to get more donations, Suarez offered people a chance to get front-row seats to see legendary Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi in his first game playing for Inter Miami.

But with dismal polling numbers – the last three major surveys had Suarez with zero support of GOP primary voters – Suarez did not qualify for the debate stage. While campaigning in New Hampshire weeks ago, Suarez said that candidates who did not meet the thresholds for the Milwaukee debate should drop out.

As the only Hispanic in the GOP presidential race, Suarez – the 45-year-old son of Miami's first Cuban-born mayor – at first appeared to be someone who could build on the party's inroads among Latino voters. Exit polls show that Hispanics – especially in Republican Florida – are moving more toward the GOP, although Democrats still hold a commanding lead among the voter group nationally and in battleground states like Arizona and Colorado.

Suarez was also an early proponent of vaccinations for COVID-19. He has clashed with his state's GOP governor, Ron DeSantis, criticizing his foe for the GOP presidential nomination for the expansion of the "don’t say gay" law in schools and the handling of the slavery curriculum in classrooms.

Nor has Suarez been a reliable enemy of President Joe Biden. At an event at the White House in early 2021, Suarez said he spoke with the president about the pandemic and climate change, adding that he had more communication with the Democratic president than with Trump, when he was president.

"I've spoken to the president and vice president more times in the short period that they have been in office than I had spoken to the prior administration entirely," Suarez said at the time. "To me, that's an intentional desire on their part to really plug in with the mayors."

In the months he has been campaigning, however, Suarez – who did not support Trump in 2016 or 2020 – has shied away from criticizing the GOP's front-runner. In June, Suarez hinted he would pardon Trump, saying the tool is useful for presidents to “heal the country.”

13日，澳大利亚媒体突然曝出一则让许多澳大利亚网民震惊的消息：一名被指控曾在阿富汗屠杀平民的前澳军士兵，竟然受邀要去英国参加英女王伊丽莎白二世的葬礼，而且还是纳税人给他买机票。不少澳大利亚网民更是纷纷吐槽说：这太丢人了。从多家澳大利亚媒体的报道来看，这名前澳军士兵名叫本·罗伯特-史密斯，曾是澳大利亚特种空勤团（SAS）的成员。虽然此人在服役期间获得过诸多荣誉，包括英国王室授予澳大利亚人的最高荣誉“澳大利亚维多利亚十字勋章”（他当时还得到过英女王的接见，如下图所示），但在2017-2020年间，他却被澳大利亚媒体不断曝出惊天丑闻。比如，他不仅在阿富汗服役期间屠杀过阿富汗平民，而且被屠杀的平民中还有一名残疾人。

二 | 更过分的是，罗伯特-史密斯居然还在一场派对上将这名被他杀害的残疾人的假肢，拿给美军士兵用作喝酒的容器。他自己则在一旁兴高采烈地为这一反人类的罪行欢呼着。另一方面，在2016年-2021年间，澳大利亚媒体还曝光了罗伯特-史密斯所属澳大利亚特种空勤团在阿富汗犯下的一系列战争罪行，其中包括屠杀战俘、平民乃至儿童。负责为澳大利亚政府监督澳大利亚军方的澳大利亚国防军督察长在2016年时就澳军过去这些年在阿富汗的一系列违规行为发起的一项独立调查，亦在2020年时给出了令人震惊的结论，确认澳军士兵——尤其是罗伯特-史密斯所在的澳大利亚特种空勤团犯下了包括屠杀39名平民以及掩盖这些罪行在内的多项战争罪行。

三 | 彼时，就连中国方面都被澳军这一行为所震惊。中国外交部发言人不仅谴责了澳军的行为，中国知名网络插画家“乌合麒麟”还作画一幅，抨击了澳军在阿富汗犯下的战争罪行。然而，从澳大利亚媒体最新的后续报道来看，不论是澳大利亚军方还是当时的澳大利亚莫里森政府，都没有严肃对待媒体曝光乃至澳军督察长那份报告中指出的这些严重侵犯人权的战争罪行，反而想大事化小、小事化了，想以一种“已经吸取教训了”这样的态度，将这事糊弄过去。这里尤其值得一提的是，在报告出台的2020年，面对中国插画家“乌合麒麟”制作的那幅抨击澳军的画作，时任澳大利亚总理莫里森不仅没有认真反思澳军的问题并承诺严惩罪行，反而颠倒黑白地指控中方应该为抨击他的政府而感到“羞耻”。

四 | 在澳军这种不思悔改、掩盖真相，更视阿富汗人生命如同草芥的可怕氛围下，那个残忍屠杀残疾人、还玩弄对方假肢的罗伯特-史密斯，自然也没有遭到任何惩罚，不仅顺利退伍，而且他在阿富汗服役时获得的那些荣誉，包括那个“澳大利亚维多利亚十字勋章”，都得到了保留。而在离开军队后，他不仅高调地做起了生意，还反过来控告曝光他这些罪行的媒体在“诽谤”他，一边辩称自己杀死的残疾人是武装分子，一边堂而皇之地撒谎，说自己对派对上美军士兵用被杀害的残疾人假肢喝酒的做法感到“厌恶”。有澳媒还曝光说，他以及包庇他的澳大利亚军方，为了掩盖这些罪行，竟给之前向媒体曝光的证人施压，并给一些同样来自军队的证人下了“封口令”。总之，在了解了上述这些情况后，我们就不难理解为何他如今敢大摇大摆地凭借着自己获得的那枚“澳大利亚维多利亚十字勋章”，接受邀请准备去参加英女王的葬礼，并让澳大利亚纳税人给他买单了——即便澳大利亚联邦警察仍然调查着他的战争罪行以及掩盖罪行、破坏证据等犯罪行为。不过，在境外的社交网站上，不少澳大利亚网民还是对这个早已声名狼藉的前澳军士兵仍然能受邀去参加英女王葬礼的一事感到震惊以及羞耻。

五 | 有网民还希望英国方面或者联合国能直接把他从英国送到海牙国际法庭受审。有澳大利亚网民还吐槽了仍然坚持邀请他的英国方面。一位澳大利亚电影人就发帖讽刺说：“英国王室再次展现了他们对战争犯罪视而不见的传统”。一名澳大利亚作家更是挖苦英方说：“或许罗伯特-史密斯可以把他当时在阿富汗派对上玩弄的那个死者的假肢带上，应该能在王室宴会上派上用场。”