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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHigh hopes: Who can forget Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s blink-and-you-missed-it campaign for the presidency in 2023?\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHigh hopes: Who can forget Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s blink-and-you-missed-it campaign for the presidency in 2023?\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Photo by Mario Tama\/Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n Whew, what a lifetime these past sixteen years have been.\u00a0<\/p>\n After spending eight years as a city of Miami commissioner, another eight as mayor, and racking up an untold number of airline miles along the way, the term-limited Francis Suarez<\/a> will finally leave city office at the end of the year<\/a>. (But fret not, there\u2019s still a chance Miami will elect another Suarez, his father, Xavier Suarez, as mayor<\/a>\u2026again).\u00a0<\/p>\n Suarez\u2019s tenure as mayor was marked by a handful of ambitious ideas, like turning Miami into the next Silicon Valley<\/a> and eliminating city taxes through cryptocurrency revenue. But while the tech and crypto bros were mesmerized by Hizzoner himself, Suarez faced scrutiny from local residents on several issues, including an ethics investigation into his Formula 1 attendance and criticism for allegedly cozying up with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019ll miss him or not, Suarez left us with a handful of memories worth remembering (or cringing at).\u00a0<\/p>\n Without further ado, here\u2019s a roundup of, shall we say, some of the less flattering moments of his tenure:<\/p>\n 1. Dignitary Protection<\/p>\n Oh boy, did Suarez love to travel as the mayor of Miami.\u00a0<\/p>\n As he jetsetted around the globe<\/a>, taxpayers were left paying thousands of dollars for his security detail\u2019s flights and accommodations. Suarez, whom New Times likes to call \u201cthe Wanderer,\u201d brought City of Miami officers as \u201cdignitary protection\u201d for trips to Qatar, Japan, South Korea<\/a>, and his many trips around the country related to his short-lived White House bid<\/a>. During his travels, the mayor\u2019s crew stayed at glitzy hotels, including the five-star Four Seasons Seoul and the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo. And it was all on the city\u2019s dime!<\/p>\n 2. Crypto Capital of the World<\/p>\n Suarez, who dubbed himself the \u201cmost bitcoin-friendly mayor on the planet,\u201d boasted that the revenue generated by MiamiCoin<\/a>, the now worthless cryptocurrency<\/a>, could one day replace city taxes. He claimed that the token was generating \u201cseveral thousand dollars every ten minutes,\u201d with the potential to reach $60 million over the course of a year. He also proposed allocating a Bitcoin dividend from the MiamiCoin yield via digital wallets to Miami residents. Suarez even wanted local businesses and restaurants to consider accepting MiamiCoin as a form of payment.\u00a0<\/p>\n What he once thought would help alleviate homelessness and increase the police force crashed and burned just two years after launching. In 2023, the only crypto exchange that supported MiamiCoin suspended trading of the Suarez-backed coin.<\/p>\n 3. Blink-and-You\u2019ll-Miss-It Presidential Campaign<\/p>\n Remember when he ran for president? Probably not.\u00a0<\/p>\n In August 2023, Suarez became the first GOP candidate to drop out of the presidential race<\/a> after polling at 0.2 percent and failing to qualify for the first Republican primary debate despite his claims he\u2019d be gracing the stage. Of the more than 220 White House bids by \u201cnon-fringe\u201d Democratic and Republican candidates since 1972, Suarez\u2019s blink-and-you\u2019ll-miss-it presidential campaign was the sixth shortest, according to University of Minnesota researcher Dr. Eric Ostermeier<\/a>.<\/p>\n Suarez dropped out of he race just two weeks after he falsely claimed that he met the polling qualifications to participate in the first Republican primary debate. As part of his long-shot presidential bid, Suarez shelled out $20 Visa gift cards<\/a> to each donor who contributed at least $1 to his fundraising page.<\/p>\n 4. Weeble <\/p>\n During his very brief presidential campaign, Suarez was stumped when conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt asked him about the Uyghurs<\/a>, a Turkic ethnic group persecuted by the Chinese government.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHewitt asked, \u201cWill you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe what?\u201d Suarez asked with a chuckle.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Uyghurs,\u201d Hewitt repeated, to which Suarez responded, \u201cWhat\u2019s a Uyghur?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, we\u2019ll come back to that,\u201d Hewitt said. \u201cYou gotta get smart on that.\u201d<\/p>\n He promised to read up on the Uyghurs: \u201cI\u2019ll look at \u2013 what did you call it, a Weeble?\u201d<\/p>\n 5. Man About Town<\/p>\n In August 2024, Suarez photobombed the closing ceremony<\/a> of the Esports World Cup<\/a> in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia \u2014 sitting in the front row several seats down from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the Saudi throne. Miami residents may have never known that their mayor was abroad if he hadn\u2019t been caught on a livestream, considering he had posted an Instagram story of a sailboat marina with the caption, \u201cMiami afternoons never disappoint,\u201d just the day before.<\/p>\n 6. Formula 1 Ethics Scandal<\/p>\n In August 2023, roughly three months after Suarez was seen shmoozing with celebrities and wealthy business leaders at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix <\/a>and dinner events tied to the race, immigration activist Thomas Kennedy filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics alleging that Suarez received improper compensation in the form of pricey event tickets from Ken Griffin, head of hedge fund Citadel, while the firm was seeking to relocate its headquarters to a yet-to-be-built skyscraper in Miami. The commission later dismissed the complaint<\/a>, finding that he reimbursed the ticket costs and that there was \u201cno probable cause to believe\u201d he accepted gifts in exchange for political favors.<\/p>\n 7. Rules for Thee But Not for Me<\/p>\n During the COVID-19 pandemic, the mayor received sharp criticism after he posted a photo on Instagram of a family dinner party he attended to celebrate his parents\u2019 44th wedding anniversary<\/a>. None of the ten people in the photo were wearing face masks.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWay too many people who aren\u2019t from the same household not social distancing or wearing masks in this picture,\u201d an Instagram user commented. \u201cSeriously, bad judgment here.\u201d<\/p>\n This wasn\u2019t the first time Suarez was criticized for breaking COVID-19 protocols. In May 2020, he was photographed inside a packed restaurant just a few days after he held a press conference to discuss a surge in COVID-19 cases.<\/p>\n 9. Questionable Key Club<\/p>\n You probably wouldn\u2019t want someone who slapped their wife or was accused of sexual assault anywhere near your house, let alone with a key. And yet, during his time in office, Suarez made a habit of handing such people honorary keys to the city. There was the time he awarded a key to self-help icon Tony Robbins, accused of sexual assault by at least ten women, one of them a minor. Then there was UFC president and CEO Dana White<\/a>, caught on video slapping his wife in 2013. And who could forget his workout pals and right-wing YouTube pranksters the Nelk Boys<\/a>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"High hopes: Who can forget Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s blink-and-you-missed-it campaign for the presidency in 2023? 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