MIAMI, Fla. – Miami Mayor Francis Suarez went into the presidential election two months ago as a Republican candidate saying he had unique abilities and he left on Monday having never really gotten traction.
He also never answered questions that now we see answers to, at least some of them, in his latest financial filings.
We went to Suarez’s office. The mayor’s job is an ambassador-like, part-time position, so Suarez is not required to be at his office. We wanted to ask him questions since he suspended his presidential campaign and hasn’t said why, but he wasn’t in. We did ask a driver in a Black SUV parked in the mayor’s space if he was waiting for Suarez. He wouldn’t answer us.
On Monday, the day before he ended his 76-day candidacy, Suarez filed the required financials that give the first public look at how and where the mayor, a lawyer by trade, has made millions, a significant amount consulting with Miami firms and financial houses.
When Suarez announced a presidential run in June, the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission were already investigating whether the lines were blurred between elected office and personal gain.
The short-lived campaign was marked by national interviews, unchallenged talking points, and a gaffe that went viral.
In an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, the Miami mayor said he was “caught off guard” when he was asked about Uyghur Muslims.
Suarez: “What’s it, what was it you called it? Weebles?”
Hewitt: “The Uyghurs. You really need to know about the Uyghurs, mayor.”
China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against the Uyghur population and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in a region of Xinjiang.
Despite raffling tickets to see soccer superstar Lionel Messi tickets to fill his campaign coffers – Suarez’s campaign said they were paid for along with gift card giveaways for donations, Suarez failed to meet the polling requirements for the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 election on Wednesday, Aug. 23.