Suarez filed to run for president with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday before rolling out an announcement video (which shows him literally running) on Thursday and sitting down for an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“I’m running for president because I think I have a different message than what other candidates have,” Suarez told Stephanopoulos. “I’m generational and not generational as a buzzword, but as someone who has implemented generational change to create prosperity in this city.”
Stephanopoulos pressed Suarez for his takeaways on Trump’s latest indictment, which he was arraigned for in a federal court in Miami earlier this week.
“Yeah, I think one of the things that happened in Miami is people were hoping and some members of the press were hoping that there would be anarchy and I think what Miami did is what Miami has done. We have lowered homicides to the lowest level,” Suarez said before Stephanopoulos interrupted, asking what he thought about the indictment.
“And I want to talk about Miami,” Suarez responded. “I think if we continue to have a conversation about the former president, then the former president will be the nominee.”
But it will be difficult for Suarez to push past Trump as the race’s front-runner, given his relatively low national name ID. Suarez is the third resident behind Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to jump into the primary. Polls have shown DeSantis trailing Trump in second place.
Suarez will have some work to do if he wants to make the Republican presidential debates in August. In order to qualify for the first Republican debate in August, Suarez will need to poll at a minimum of 1 percent in three national polls and garner a minimum of 40,000 unique donors, and at least 200 unique donors from 20 or more states and territories.
However, the Miami mayor has allies working to build his profile, particularly in the early contest states. On Wednesday, a PAC supporting Suarez called SOS America, rolled out a six-figure digital ad buy in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.
