Francis Suarez teases upcoming California speech as possible 2024 campaign launch
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez teased a “major announcement” this week during a round of television interviews that aired Sunday morning, hinting that he may formally launch a campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination during a speech in California on Thursday.
Suarez, 45, appeared on Fox and Telemundo, where he was asked about his political ambitions and about the significance of an appearance scheduled for Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library outside Los Angeles, California. Suarez has said for months that he is considering a run for the GOP nomination.
“My announcement is to stay tuned,” he told Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream. “Next week, like you said, I’m going to be making a big speech in the Reagan Library, and I think it’s one that Americans should tune into.”
The Miami Herald first pointed to the speech, part of a conservative speaker series entitled “A Time For Choosing,” as an opportunity for the mayor to announce a White House bid. The Herald reported last week that the mayor was putting pieces in place to formally launch a campaign, with Suarez raising money into a federal super PAC and five of the mayor’s City Hall staffers taking leaves of absences for the summer.
The Herald’s reporting was heavily cited in the interviews that aired Sunday morning, including news of multiple investigations into Suarez’s private consulting work for a developer who sought City Hall approvals for a real estate project in Coconut Grove.
Public records show one the mayor’s staffers helped developer Rishi Kapoor’s company secure a permit for the project, and notes from the developer’s meetings show that Kapoor told his staff he would tap the mayor to try and help resolve problems at City Hall.
Suarez’s work for the developer is being investigated by the FBI, the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office and the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. Kapoor’s firm Location Ventures is also being investigated by the SEC.
The developer, who according to corporate documents has paid Suarez at least $170,000 for consulting since late 2021, denies paying the mayor to lobby his own government. The mayor has denied wrongdoing.
Suarez said on Sunday that he welcomes the scrutiny.
“I can assure you and the public that I did not intervene, and that I did not use my influence to help anyone private person,” Suarez told Telemundo 51 journalist Marilys Llanos. “I cannot explain why someone would say that.”
