6 June 20-26, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | news | letters | coNteNts | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN Reporter-averse Mayor Suarez sits down with podcaster who posted bigoted content. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN D espite what he might have you believe, Miami mayor and one-time presidential candidate Francis Suarez is not the most media-accessible public official in South Florida. At times, reporters asking for input from the mayor’s office may feel that it’s easier to reach the late Queen of England for comment. While Suarez has repeatedly left the local media on read, the mayor recently sat down for an exclusive interview at the popular Cu- ban restaurant Versailles with podcaster Linda Cuadros, a local influencer who has made a name for herself through her unyielding sup- port for Donald Trump and her self-described campaign against the “globohomo” agenda. The mayor’s move was notable in light of Cuadros’ online rhetoric. She is known for exchanging insults with users on her social media platforms and challenging voters who supported other Republican presidential can- didates such as Vivek Ramaswamy and Flor- ida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Among other conspicuous comments, she has referred to Ramaswamy as “Hindu boy” and suggested he is not a “real American.” (He is an American citizen born in Cincin- nati.) “It’s hilarious watching conservatives think someone named Vivek Ramaswamy is going to carry on the America First vision af- ter Trump lmao,” Cuadros’ X account, Mostly Peaceful Latinas, posted on January 14. “Talk about great replacement! Forget white Amer- ica and Christians.” Moreover, sitting down for an extended interview with the podcaster was a striking sight in light of the Miami mayor’s past inter- actions with (or avoidance of) local media. Last September, Suarez was captured on camera grabbing Miami Herald reporter Sarah Blaskey’s phone as she asked him about an ethics complaint related to his attendance at Formula 1-related events during the spring. “I have a [communications] director, you know the procedure, you know the rules — the rules are simple,” Suarez lectured Blas- key. “The rule is: Call my office, put the questions in writing, or make an appointment with me. I’d be happy to talk with you. I’ve been talking to you for years.” To which Blaskey’s fellow Herald reporter Joey Flechas quickly shot back, “No, you haven’t.” In January of this year, following his State of the City address that saw Suarez discuss the importance of government transparency, the mayor walked away from WPLG-TV reporter Glenna Milberg when she asked him about his private business dealings. That same day, Suarez refused to answer requests from the Herald, which hours before had reported that he’d pushed for a no-bid city contract for a startup involved in partnership negotiations with one of his private employers. Meanwhile, Cuadros has drawn attention for her skewering comments about local news outlets (New Times included), accusing them of being part of a coordinated left-wing smear campaign. She also regularly points out people’s Jewish backgrounds and, at times, has written prejudicial and inflamma- tory content about Jews. “First of all, I’m not Cuban and I’ve never needed a single Jewish person to help me succeed in this country. In fact, we all know you only help each other out,” reads a March post from Cuadros’ account amid an online ex- change about Jew- ish connections to the Cuban commu- nity in Miami. In Cuadros’ 20-minute interview with Suarez, posted on her YouTube channel on May 31, the mayor, who notes he is wearing his “Bitcoin shoes,” boasts that Donald Trump was the first per- son to call him after he dropped out of the presidential race last summer and declares his willingness to join the former president on the 2024 campaign trail. “I find him to be engaging, he’s someone that has a magnetic personality charismatic, and all that stuff,” Suarez said. “I see the witch hunts that I’ve seen in my own per- sonal life, and it contextualizes what he’s go- ing through, and I’m like, ‘Wow maybe a lot of the stuff that he was going through was just unfounded and not fair,’ the basis of a narra- tive building against him.” Trump was recently convicted of multiple felonies in connection with hush- money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels (née Stephanie Gregory Clifford). He’s facing three other criminal cases — one arising from his alleged hoarding of classified documents, and two prosecutions based on his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Suarez has been the subject of multiple ethics complaints alleging that he improperly accepted gifts and that the City of Miami was billed for expensive hotels and travel costs for Miami police whom Suarez used as personal security during his presidential campaign travels. State and county ethics boards declined to cite Suarez for wrongdoing, nor has he been charged with a crime in any of the probes. Apart from sharing his admiration for Trump, the mayor spoke of his “great rela- tionship with the press,” chatted about his failed presidential campaign, decried the “fake news media,” and touted his accom- plishments in Miami, including turning the city into a technology hub. “I’ve had a 15-year career. I’ve been a work- ing public official my entire time,” Suarez added. “I’ve been blessed because this commu- nity has given me great opportunities to find private sector success. I’m proud of it. I do it by navigating potential conflicts to the best of my ability at all times. I’ve never had any issues, and all of a sudden, I decide to run for president and all these things start to materialize.” Inspired by the abundance of self-back- patting that transpired during the Cuadros interview, New Times cranked up our trusty Suarez Baloney Meter for a bracing round of fact-checking. “We were ranked the happiest city in America” It’s true that Miami was listed as the “happi- est city” in the U.S. in a 2022 study. Subsequent surveys and studies put Mi- ami nowhere near the top of the happiness rankings, including a WalletHub study that ranked Miami 84th in the nation. It’s hard to fact-check a notion as subjec- tive as resident happiness, but between the traffic congestion, unaffordable cost of living, constant flooding, and summer heat, it’s safe to say Miami is not exactly the most stress- free environment. “I lowered taxes to the lowest level in history so we’ve never had a lower tax rate” We’ve heard this one before. As previously reported by New Times, the City of Miami commission reduced the mu- nicipality’s property tax rate to the lowest since the 1960s in July 2022. Yet, Suarez, as mayor, did not vote on the matter, so it would be more accurate to say, “The city commission lowered the property tax rate to a historic low.” That didn’t stop the mayor from staging a press conference to cel- ebrate the new rate. “I have always been very transparent” Local reporters might like a word. For what it’s worth, the mayor’s office has repeatedly declined to respond after New Times submitted requests for comment. As clearly outlined above, Suarez has at times refused to answer questions from jour- nalists about his business relationships out- side his official capacity as mayor, potential conflicts of interest with some of his employ- ers having business before the city, and his at- tendance at a host of ritzy events in South Florida, including the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar with Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham. Records released by the Florida Ethics Commission following an administrative probe revealed Suarez had reimbursed Citadel hedge fund chief Ken Griffin $14,000 for Formula 1 weekend tickets two months after the race (and several days after the Herald asked questions about his attendance). An ethics reviewer found the mayor properly cut the check before the 90- day deadline to reimburse a would-be gift under Florida ethics law. In January, the Herald reported that an ethics probe into the mayor’s side work as a consultant and other roles was ongoing. [email protected] Miami Mayor Francis Suarez recently sat down for an exclusive interview with far- right podcaster Linda Cuadros. Screenshot via YouTube | METRO | SUAREZ HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF MULTIPLE ETHICS COMPLAINTS ALLEGING THAT HE IMPROPERLY ACCEPTED GIFTS.
