Rep. Matt Gaetz Rips Miami Mayor Suarez After He Fails to Make Debate Stage

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on Tuesday took aim at GOP Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on X, formerly known as Twitter, over Suarez previously announcing that he had qualified for the first Republican presidential debate when he actually had not met the Republican National Committee requirements.

"Imagine how low a candidate’s self awareness must be to post this, and keep it pinned, when they didn’t make the debate," Gaetz's posted, sharing Suarez's Aug. 18 post announcing his debate attendance that is currently pinned to the presidential candidate's social media field.

Suarez told the Associated Press in an interview last week that he had reached the RNC criteria, including the donor threshold and polling requirements, to appear on the debate stage on Wednesday, however, the RNC later clarified that he had not.

Late Monday, the RNC announced that eight presidential hopefuls had qualified for Wednesday's debate.

Qualifying candidates include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramamswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, S.C., former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.