Who is Francis Suarez? That’s a question a lot of people will understandably be asking after clicking on this piece, but he is actually a low-key presidential candidate.
The current “Republican” Mayor of Miami declared his candidacy in mid-June, and he’s trying to set himself up as the real heir to Florida’s throne (and perhaps a future gubernatorial run). Recently, he claimed Ron DeSantis has “no personality,” which is a really odd thing to critique someone who is barnstorming the country and making countless public appearances.
Regardless, what matters more? Personality or knowledge about the job you are running for? That leads me to this embarrassing flub he made Tuesday morning while speaking to Hugh Hewitt.
Hugh Hewitt: “Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?”
— The Recount (@therecount) June 27, 2023
2024 GOP presidential candidate Francis Suarez: “What's a Uyghur?” pic.twitter.com/AlRkjZCJyK
HEWITT: Penultimate question, Mayor. Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?
SUAREZ: The What?
HEWITT: The Uyghurs.
SUAREZ: What’s a Uyghur.
HEWITT: Okay, we’ll come back to that. Let me, you won’t be…you’ve got to get smart on that.
Suarez then went on to joke about Hewitt’s question being about “a Weeble.” Because genocide is hilarious? I guess he truly didn’t know what Hewitt was talking about.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez humiliates himself (again) playing pretend president Ponzi Postalita #BecauseMiami:
— Because Miami (@BecauseMiami) June 27, 2023
Hugh Hewitt: Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?
Suarez: What's a Uyghur? … What did you call it, "a Weeble?" pic.twitter.com/n9ZzMs2H59
I don’t expect presidential candidates to know everything about every single possible issue. I do expect them to have a knowledge base that shows they are engaged in world affairs. I’d suspect that almost every single person reading this article knows the Uyghurs are a Muslim minority group in China currently being put in camps and “reeducated” by the CCP. I’d further suspect that those who don’t know that aren’t running for president.
Suarez is, though, and it’s silly to think that someone who wants to be the Republican nominee doesn’t even know about a years-long genocide that has been reported on extensively.
Of course, Suarez is controversial as a candidate for other reasons, including his past celebration of “pride” month.
Fun Fact: 2024 candidate Francis Suarez previously attended a Boston Pride parade and signed an ordinance recognizing the 'decades of contributions by the LGBTQ Miami residents to the economy and diversity of the city' pic.twitter.com/rEAW0xgBJT
— Charles Weber (@CWBOCA) June 20, 2023
Suarez also recently came out against the expansion of the Parental Rights in Education law in Florida which protects children from sexualization and transgender indoctrination in schools.
I’ve seen some people compare Suarez’s mistake to Donald Trump not knowing who Iran’s Qassim Soleimani was when asked by Hewitt in 2015. I don’t think this is anywhere close to the same, though. Not knowing a specific general within an adversarial nation’s command structure isn’t ideal, but it’s not the same as not knowing who the Uyghurs are. The latter shows such a profound disconnect from the world that Suarez’s basic qualifications are rightly being called into question.
Why is Suarez in this race? Does the GOP field benefit from yet more dead-end candidates jamming themselves into an already limited space? And even if Suarez weren’t so obscure, what does he bring to the table? Is a pro-trans ideology mayor who is against protecting kids in schools really what Republican voters are looking for these days? I sort of doubt it, but hey, maybe I’m wrong.
