Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez has effectively confirmed he is entering the 2024 presidential race in both a Spanish-language interview, and during a conversation with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins during Donald Trump’s arrest and arraignment in Miami on Tuesday.
“This Thursday I’m giving a big speech… I’m a different kind of candidate: I’m Hispanic, from a new generation,” the Republican told Telemundo News, also leveraging his position as Mayor of Miami to make his own political capital out of the Trump circus in his city.
Suarez, 45, promoted a speech he is due to give at the Reagan Presidential Library in California, telling Fox News that he has already “been to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, [and] Nevada,” and that when takes his message to the people “they want to hear more.”
Suarez, who attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, Switzerland last year, was jeered as a “swamp monster” at the Miami courthouse where Donald Trump faced federal charges on Tuesday.
He has been critical of Trump, suggesting he had a “lack of respect and appreciation for vibrant and diverse cities” in 2018 and confirming he did not vote for the 45th President in 2020.
“We’ve got a swamp monster, folks!”
— Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) is berated by Trump supporters as he arrives outside the courthouse where Trump is set to be arraigned. pic.twitter.com/aTqVBTEPiI
— The Recount (@therecount) June 13, 2023