Suarez to Newsmax: 'Uniquely Qualified' for White House

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who earlier this month became part of the extensive list of candidates vying for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, told Newsmax Friday he's running because he believes his experience makes him "uniquely qualified" to take on the challenges facing the nation.

"The first, of course, is runaway inflation and the cost of living, which is making the poor poorer in this country," Suarez said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "If you have your money in a bank account, you're losing purchasing power, and then you're getting killed on the other side because interest rates are going up."

And then, the nation must balance its budget, Suarez said, pointing out that he's the only candidate who has balanced a budget that has a 20% deficit, which is what's in the federal budget.

Suarez, the son of Cuban immigrants, also pointed out that he's the only Hispanic seeking the nomination, and said that puts him in a "unique position" to be able to deal with the issue of immigration and "demystify" it for Republicans.

"I think also we can grow the party," said Suarez, whose father, Xavier, was the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami. "Democrats have been completely negligent in the way of communicating to Hispanics … there's a great opportunity for Republicans.

Also, Suarez said the United States must create a "dynamic economy to confront China, as not only a national security threat that it's becoming but also an economic threat that it's continuing to be."

Meanwhile, Suarez denied critics' claims that he's running to expand his profile so he can seek higher office in his state, not just the presidency.

"Running for president is the most difficult gantlet a human being can put themselves through," Suarez said. "You don't do it to run for second place. You don't do it to run for another office or sort of parlay it into another position.

"You do it because you have a deep-seated desire, and the reason I'm doing this is that I have a deep-seated desire to serve this country and because I feel I'm uniquely qualified at this moment to do it."

He also said he feels his voice will attract younger voters and voters from cities that have been "going blue" for decades, along with attracting more Hispanic voters to come into the Republican Party.

"I believe that the more people get to know me, the more they're going to like me, and the more they're going to like what I have to say," said Suarez, adding that voters will also come to like that the policies he's instituted in Miami can be "scaled to create national prosperity."

Meanwhile, Suarez is 51 percentage points behind former President Donald Trump and 31 points behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the polls, but he said he will start making up ground at the Aug. 23 GOP debate.

Suarez also on Friday commented on the slams he's gotten after a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt. CBS News reports that the mayor asked the show host, "What's a Uyghur?" while answering a question about whether he'd be talking about the Chinese Muslim group and the human rights violations their government has allegedly been committing against them.

He told Newsmax that as a mayor of an international city like Miami, he probably has more foreign policy experience than the other candidates, and that he gave the keys to the city to NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom, who has been championing the Uyghur's cause.

He added that he believes the mix-up came from how the word Uyghur was pronounced on the program.

Suarez also commented on DeSantis' race for the White House, and said that his "unvarnished view" of him is that "he doesn't have the personality, in my perspective, to bring people together to build relationships."

"I can tell you that I've done a lot more for him than he's done for me and my career, so he just hasn't built relationships," said Suarez. "And I think he has to focus on economics and a little less than on divisive topics."

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