Miami mayor considers presidential candidacy, claims his city is the new American dream 

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez explored potentially running for 2024’s U.S. presidential elections during an interview in “Mornings with Maria” on Tuesday, citing his city’s success as a model for the rest of the country.  

"Look, it's a long way aways," Suarez, the son of Miami’s first Cuban-born mayor, told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo. "Right now, I'm excited to preside over the presidency of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and try to convince other mayors across America that the Miami model works, that they need to adopt it so that they can create prosperity in their cities."

"If that continues to work, and if Miami continues to be successful," the mayor added, "then I think there's going to be tremendous amount of options available for me politically if I decide that I want to continue to serve."

When asked about whether the Republican mayor has made any plans for a presidential campaign, Suarez said his current priorities are on delivering “due diligence” as Miami’s mayor.

"We're doing our due diligence and, of course, doing what I have to do as mayor to try to continue to highlight the things that are happening in Miami," Suarez noted, "which we think, again, should be a model for the rest of the country."

During his time as mayor of Miami, Suarez has implemented several policies that have helped boost the city’s economy and standard of living. Additionally, Miami has seen record-low levels of unemployment and the lowest homicide rate since the 1930s.

"When you compare the Miami miracle to the Washington nightmare, you see a situation where in Washington, inflation is rampant, everyday goods are more expensive because of deficit spending," Suarez said. "In Miami, we balance our budget. We actually have $145 million surplus, the most in our history. We keep taxes low while Washington keeps increasing taxes.

Suarez has also leaned heavily into innovation. At the beginning of this month, Suarez announced a new partnership with TIME, Mastercard, and Salesforce to launch an NFT initiative for the city. 

"Miami was voted the happiest city in America and the healthiest city in America. So it turns out if people are healthy, if people are happy, if they're paying low taxes, if they're working, they're not going to be committing homicide," Suarez said. "So it's a very easy recipe for success. It can be scaled to the rest of the country, but it takes political courage."