Major Cable Networks Question Suarez’s Ability to Lead As President: Miami Mayor Post Is ‘Mostly Ceremonial’
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has announced his intentions to run for president, but commentators on all three major cable networks have questioned his ability to lead on such a large scale, saying his current post is “mostly ceremonial.”
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing asked former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) if Suarez has any real chance in the crowded GOP primary race.
“There’s never been a mayor elected president, although people like Bloomberg have tried,” Jansing said. “In Miami, this is a ceremonial role. Does he have the gravitas to make a showing on the debate stage, let alone be President of the United States?
Kasich praised Suarez for bringing new business to Miami, but agreed that the mayor was a long shot.
“He’s a young guy. Miami is happening. If you haven’t been there for a while, you need to go — It’s really cooking,” Kasich said. “And I heard early on about the fact that many of the tech giants from California, tech moguls, decided they liked Miami, it was place to go. And he’s been thinking about the future of business, and he’s been promoting companies that represent the future of the digital types, the ones that understand AI and machine learning. And at the same time, you know, he’s got low crime, and he’s got relatively low homelessness in Miami, which is all interesting. And he’s charismatic, so maybe he’s running in ’24, so he can run in ’28, I don’t know, I don’t want to count anybody out. But it is a long shot.”
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny said Suarez faces many challenges to even make it to the debate stage.
“He’s relatively unknown, but he has been the president of the American Council of Mayors, who’s been traveling across the country a lot, and he is different than a lot of other candidates. The reason he’s running of course, is to show he’s — he’s young. He’s different than former President Donald Trump. He’s different from President Joe Biden, and all of the other candidates. The only Hispanic in the race on either side of the aisle, but it is an uphill battle for him and here’s why: He’s never been elected outside of Miami and that was a nonpartisan race in the city of Miami. And as the mayor of Miami, it sounds like he must run Miami. He actually does not. There’s a city administrator and the mayor of Miami-Dade County, who is the administrator of the region in southern Florida. However, he is trying to make his argument as a generational change candidate.”
Zeleny said that in order to make the debate stage, Suarez must have “40,000 individual donors from 20 states, and he must be at 1% of the polls nationally, or state by state in early voting states. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is an uphill battle.”
Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL), didn’t mince words when speaking on Fox News about Suarez’s lack of experience.
“I don’t feel too highly about him. I don’t think that he’s qualified to be the President of the United States in any way, shape, or form,” Giménez said. “He hasn’t demonstrated the ability to lead any large organization. The city of Miami, he’s a ceremonial mayor of the city of Miami. He’s got very, very little power. He got elected by a total of 20,000 people. He does have the gift of gab, trying to fool people into thinking he’s the big city mayor. But the big city mayor is actually the mayor of Dade County, who’s a strong mayor and represents about 2.8 million people.”
Giménez said Suarez isn’t even qualified to be a vice presidential running mate.
“He’s not qualified to be anything. And right now he’s under FBI investigation for doing some outside work with a developer. I mean, he has all kinds of trouble. And again, he fools people into thinking he’s a lot bigger than what he really is, and, again, I wouldn’t really waste my time with him, he’s just, he’s a fraud in my estimation.”
Watch the videos above via MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News.
Elizabeth Vargas will interview Suarez on NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
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