Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday, jumping into the crowded race just days after the clear GOP front-runner, former President Donald Trump, appeared in court on federal charges in Suarez’s city.
The 45-year-old mayor, the only Hispanic candidate in the race, declared his candidacy in paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday. He had previously teased an announcement, noting that he would be making a “big speech” on Thursday at the Reagan Library in California.
Announcing his run on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday, Suarez repeatedly tried to avoid answering questions about Trump’s behavior and the charges in his indictment, saying he didn’t know “all the details about how he handled classified information.”
When reminded that he was running against Trump, Suarez replied, “You see, that’s where you’re wrong. I’m running to be the president of the United States, and I’m running against Joe Biden’s America — an America where the poor get poorer, an America where America gets weaker, an America where if things don’t change China will be the lone superpower. That’s what I’m running for.”
Suarez, the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is the son of Miami’s first Cuban-born mayor. He has gained national attention in recent years for his efforts to lure companies to Miami, with an eye toward turning the city into a crypto hub and the next Silicon Valley.
Suarez is vying to become the first sitting mayor elected president, joining a crowded GOP primary fight that includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Despite having a candidate field in the double digits, the race is largely seen as a two-person contest between Trump and DeSantis.
There may be an opening considering Trump’s myriad legal vulnerabilities — none more serious than his federal indictment on charges of mishandling sensitive documents and refusing to give them back. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in Miami federal court to 37 felony counts.
Before Trump arrived at the Miami courthouse on Tuesday, Suarez toured the media encampment wearing a T-shirt with a police logo, as his city’s police force had jurisdiction over the downtown area.
Suarez has said he didn’t support Trump in the 2016 or 2020 presidential elections, instead writing in the names of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and then-Vice President Pence. In 2018, Suarez publicly condemned Trump after reports came out that he had questioned why the United States would accept more immigrants from Haiti and Africa.
But times have changed, with Trump advisers now praising Suarez’s work and helping him promote what he calls “the Miami success story.”
Suarez, who is married with two young children, is a corporate and real estate attorney who previously served as a city of Miami commissioner. He has also positioned himself as someone who can help the party further connect with Hispanics. In recent months, he has made visits to early GOP voting states as he weighed a possible 2024 campaign.
He is more moderate than DeSantis and Trump but has threaded the needle carefully on cultural issues that have become popular among GOP politicians.
The Associated Press contributed to this article