4 August 14-20, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ CYBERSPACE HOMEGIRL ON THE MIKE SOUTH FLORIDA NATIVE KATIE MILLER IS NOW A MAGA PODCASTER. BY ALEX DELUCA L ongtime Trump loyalist Katie Miller has officially completed the conservative rite of passage: launching her very own podcast. After leaving her role as an ad- visor and spokesperson for Elon Musk’s De- partment of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in May, the 33-year-old South Florida native revealed to Axios that she has launched The Katie Miller Podcast, a show aimed at conser- vative women like herself. Miller says she’ll host guests like politi- cians, business leaders, celebrities, and musi- cians, and cover “lifestyle, what’s going on, real honest conversations — none of the bullshit.” For her opening episodes, she inter- viewed Vice President JD Vance, boxing leg- end Mike Tyson, and former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele (none of whom are ... conservative women). “For MAGA and President Trump’s legacy to grow long-term, we must talk to conserva- tive women,” Miller said. With so many MAGA podcast audiences skewing male nowadays, Miller says that there hasn’t been “a place for conservative women to gather online” or a “place for a mom like me, mom of three young kids — 4, 3, and almost 2 — and a wife, and trying to do a career, eat healthy, work out.” She says she doesn’t plan to focus on poli- tics with the show, but instead provide a con- servative antidote to culture-heavy podcasts like Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy. “There isn’t a place for a mom like me to get lifestyle information, news, laugh with our friends, gossip about what’s going on in the world from our perspective,” she added. She said her pod will be “about women, for women — with men, too, talking about what matters to women.” The podcast, which will be based at Katie- Miller.com, will also be available on YouTube, X, Spotify, and Apple Music. Raised in Weston, a planned community in western Broward County, Miller formerly served as deputy press secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019 and as communications director for former Vice President Mike Pence. She’s married to Stephen Miller, a White House senior policy adviser notorious for crafting Trump’s harshest immigration policies and promoting white nationalist ideologies. In 2020, Miller made headlines after she was quoted in Separated, a book by NBC News reporter Jacob Soboroff about the Trump ad- ministration’s family-separation crisis, as ask- ing: “Why do we need to have ‘Little Havana’?” “If you come to America, you should as- similate. Why do we need to have ‘Little Ha- vana’?” she asked. Soboroff said he was taken aback by Mill- er’s answer. In response, he asked if she was a white nationalist. While she answered no, she added that she believes people who come to America should assimilate. “My family and colleagues told me that when I have kids, I’ll think about the separa- tions differently,” Miller told Soboroff. “But I don’t think so... DHS sent me to the border to see the separations for myself — to try to make me more compassionate — but it didn’t work.” [email protected] | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Longtime Trump loyalist Katie Miller has officially completed the conservative rite of passage: launching her very own podcast. YouTube via The Katie Miller Podcast ▼ MAGIC CITY VACANCY? A LOCAL LA QUINTA HAS DEPLOYED A VIRTUAL RECEPTIONIST. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON I magine enduring hours on a plane en route to your Miami vacation, trudging through an unfamiliar airport to baggage claim, nodding through Uber chitchat to your hotel, and now the only thing standing between you and a good night’s sleep is an exchange of an- noying banter with a receptionist who holds your key. But the lobby is devoid of employees. In- stead of a smiling face with a warm “hello” to welcome you, there’s a kiosk attached to a credit card machine that reads, “Check in & check out here.” You begin doing that when a young man with a foreign accent and headset comes on the screen to guide you through the process via video chat. Welcome to the future. A visitor seemed stumped during a recent trip to a Miami La Quinta Inn & Suites when they had to check in using a remote receptionist. A video they captured of the encounter went vi- ral on X (formerly Twit- ter), racking up over 2 million views and sparking a flurry of crit- icism and commentary. “Damn, that’s wild. Gotta keep it local, fam,” one user wrote. “This is beyond ridiculous,” wrote another. “The reason for a desk is like having a door- man in an apartment building — security,” an- other wrote. “I wouldn’t feel safe in a hotel with a staff this lean. There is no authority; it’s like a bus stop.” In the video, the receptionist asks if the visi- tor needs one or two keys before a computer- ized voice reads aloud hotel policies, and the guest signs for the room. Some commenters couldn’t believe it, saying the video was created by artificial intelligence. It’s unclear which Miami-area La Quinta the guest took the video from, but a spokeswoman from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, which owns La Quinta Inn & Suites, appeared to confirm its ve- racity Monday in a statement to New Times. “We are aware of this matter and are actively investigating,” spokeswoman Meg Davis said in a written statement. “All La Quinta hotels are in- dependently owned and operated under fran- chise agreements and required to have a team member at the front desk at all times.” [email protected] ▼ SUNSHINE STATE FLAG DAZE DESANTIS LOWERED FLAGS FOR HULK HOGAN BUT NOT JOE CASELLO. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN W hile Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a whole to-do about wrestling icon Hulk Hogan’s unexpected death last month, he has been noticeably silent on the death of a South Florida representative. On July 18, Florida State Rep. Joe Casello of Boynton Beach died following a heart attack. The 73-year-old, who represented parts of Palm Beach County, was a firefighter for 33 years be- fore venturing into politics. He also served as a non-commissioned officer in the Air Force. “We are so sorry to say that Representative Joe Casello has passed away, surrounded by his loving family and girlfriend, following a heart attack. He was 73,” the Florida House Demo- crats wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “The family extends their heartfelt gratitude to all who have offered their love and support during this difficult time.” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said Casello “will be deeply missed.” DeSantis did not acknowledge his death except to announce dates for a special election to fill Casello’s seat. On July 24, Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, died in Clearwater, following a car- diac arrest. DeSantis quickly commemorated the wrestling icon and Florida resident at his press conference that afternoon. “Before I get into the gist of today’s infor- mation, just as a Floridian, as somebody that grew up in west central Florida, I was sad to see the news that Hulk Hogan passed away,” De- Santis said to open his press conference. He went further, remembering Hogan by issu- ing a memorandum to Pinellas County officials to fly state and U.S. flags at half-staff on Friday, Au- gust 1, in the late wrestler’s honor. He also de- clared Friday “Hulk Hogan Day” in Florida. Under the governor’s flag protocol, DeSan- tis can lower the state flag to half-staff on “ap- propriate occasions, such as on holidays and upon the death of high-ranking state officials, uniformed law enforcement and fire service personnel, and prominent citizens.” “Every member of the Florida legislature should be speaking up at the lack of recognition for Rep. Joe Casello’s passing,” one X user wrote. “But they’re lowering the flag for HULK HOGAN. Casello was an Air Force Vet for Gods sake.” DeSantis hasn’t hesitated to issue half-staff flags for lawmakers and even controversial ra- dio personalities over the years. The governor ordered the flags for Democratic Senator Geral- dine Thompson, U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart, and former Gov. Buddy MacKay. In 2021, he had flags lowered to honor radio personality Rush Limbaugh, who had a history of making racist, sexist, and homophobic remarks. “@GovRonDeSantis is lowering Florida’s flags to half-staff for Rush Limbaugh,” Fried tweeted. “But he had no words for Congress- man John Lewis. Priorities.” [email protected] “I WOULDN’T FEEL SAFE IN A HOTEL WITH A STAFF THIS LEAN. THERE IS NO AUTHORITY; IT’S LIKE A BUS STOP.”
