Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has thrown his hat into the ring for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. During his discussion with radio host Hugh Hewitt, he fumbled a question in a now-viral moment.
During an appearance on The Hugh Hewitt Show Tuesday, Suarez was asked if he would be discussing the Uyghurs during his campaign. The Uyghurs are an ethnic group in Central and Eastern Asia. Since 2014, the Chinese government has imprisoned large portions of the group, with estimates that more than one million Uyghurs are currently placed in forced labor camps and are subjected to human rights abuses.
When tasked with answering the question, Suarez laughed and asked “the what?”, before reiterating “What’s a Uyghur?”.
Hewitt told the Mayor he would need to “get smart on that”.
At the conclusion of the interview, Suarez said Hewitt gave him “homework”.
“I’ll look at what a — what was it? — what did you call it, a Weeble?” Suarez asked.
After the clip went viral, Suarez defended himself on Twitter by saying he was “well aware” of the situation in China and was understanding of the suffering the Uyghurs are undergoing. He claimed that the pronunciation given by Hewitt — which was correct — threw him off.
“Of course, I am well aware of the suffering of the Uyghurs in China. They are being enslaved because of their faith. China has a deplorable record on human rights and all people of faith suffer there. I didn’t recognize the pronunciation my friend Hugh Hewitt used. That’s on me,” Suarez wrote.
