Earlier this week, Miami Mayor and prospective 2024 Republican presidential candidate Francis Suarez had a high-profile gaffe during an appearance on The Hugh Hewitt Show. When asked if he would be discussing the Uyghurs — a persecuted religious group in China — Suarez didn’t know the term. Mike Gallagher said you have to be on top of your game if you’re going to be interviewed by Hewitt.
“It went viral. It was all over the media. This was huge,” Gallagher admitted after airing the clip of Suarez laughing as Hewitt asked him the Uyghurs. In response, Hewitt said “You’re gonna need to get smart on that”.
“That’s a gracious Hugh Hewitt way of saying, ‘Holy cow’. I mean, that’s the difference. And Hugh, incidentally, is one of the best interviewers in the business, and I’ve said that forever. He does a tremendous job,” said Gallagher. “If that’s me? I’m going to start screaming. ‘What the heck is wrong with you?’
“It’s a legitimate mistake. He doesn’t know. He’s not fully informed…Hugh’s done this before. First of all, Hugh’s a smart cookie. You better be ready when you’re gonna get on his show. You better know…He’s gonna quiz you, but it wasn’t a gotcha question.”
Gallagher doubled down on the insinuation that Suarez didn’t know about the plight of the Uyghur people, but his response to the gaffe was more disheartening.
“He doesn’t know. He has no idea. Five hours later he tweeted, proving my theory that some of these folks have zero shame whatsoever…The preposterousness of this guy, is that he acted like he knew all along. Here’s where it really gets insulting. And if I’m Hugh Hewitt, I’m ticked. I’m sure Hugh won’t be but he ought to be. He blamed Hugh! How else would you pronounce it?!…What an absolute shameless attempt.
“Listen, I’ve made some terrible mistakes on air. I’ve said goofy things. I have had bad information and I’ve repeated bad information. When I screw up, I’m not going to double down on my screw up and pretend I didn’t. That shows you how arrogant, how narcissistic, and how unserious this guy really is.”
