Tipsheet

'The What?': Presidential Hopeful Doesn't Know Who the Uyghurs Are

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  June 27, 2023 11:00 AM

Miami Mayor Frances Suarez, a recent entrant in the 2024 GOP presidential primary and the mayor of Miami, joined the Hugh Hewitt Show Tuesday morning to talk about his campaign and policy goals as he seeks to differentiate himself among the dozen-candidate Republican field. 

The full interview can be found here — in which Suarez noted that he cast write-in votes for Marco Rubio in 2016 and Mike Pence in 2020 rather than voting for Trump either time — but one of the last questions from Hewitt was the one that tripped up Suarez.

"Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?" Hewitt asked, referring to the religious minority group which faces an ongoing genocide waged by the Chinese Communist Party. 

"The what?" was Suarez's response. "What’s a Uyghur?" he asked after Hewitt restated the name.

"Okay, we’ll come back to that," Hewitt said, rescuing Suarez from the situation while admonishing him to "get smart" about the CCP's treatment of the Uyghurs.

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But then it got worse. As Hewitt wrapped up the interview, he gave Suarez a chance to plug his campaign website for those looking to learn more about his campaign. Suarez took the opportunity to, unfortunately, essentially double down on his Uyghur gaffe.

"You gave me homework, Hugh," Suarez reminded. "I’ll look at what a, what was it, what did you call it, a Weeble?" he asked with a laugh.

Hewitt again corrected Suarez. "The Uyghurs. You really need to know about the Uyghurs, Mayor," Hewitt urged. "You’ve got to talk about it every day, okay?"

"I will talk about, I will search Uyghurs," Suarez replied, finally getting the name. "I’m a good learner. I’m a fast learner," he added.

Following the interview, Hewitt took to Twitter to say Suarez "was pretty good for a first conversation on air about national security — except for the huge blind spot on the Uyghurs."

Indeed, being unaware of the plight of the Uyghurs is quite the blind spot to have while running for president. 

It also raises more questions about knowledge of — and policy proposals toward — China, given its myriad human rights violations, its espionage activity in the United States, its hostility toward Taiwan, and its friendly relations with other nations engaged in malign activities such as Russia, North Korea, and Iran.