Mayor Francis Suarez

Carlos talks to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez about how he first got involved in politics, the current situation in Cuba and his thoughts on a potential presidential campaign.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Francis Forres grew up in Miami and began his professional
career as an attorney specialized in incorporate and real estate transactions.
He was first elected as the City of Miami Commissioner
for District four in two thousand nine and is currently
the Mayor of Miami. On this episode of the Carlos
Watson Show podcast, Miami Mayor Francis Forres reflects on how
he first got involved in politics, the current situation in Cuba,

(00:25):
and his thoughts on a potential presidential campaign. Hey, very
good to see you. Hey, my man, what's going on?
Looking good? Oh man, you look good. You look comfortable.
That's the battle right there. You know what, that's a
good battle. You're still working out every morning? Oh yeah,
come on now okay, okay, now what now? What do

(00:46):
you do? I don't know if we even talked about it.
I do. I basically do CrossFit. Okay, that's essentially what
I do. It's a you know, high intensity interval training
and uh, you know, sometimes I'll do depending on the day,
as depending on my body feels. And I worked with
out with a trainer and a couple of guys. He'll
mixed up like today, we did more bodybuilding a little
less cardio because we've been doing cardio every day, so
he sort of mixed it up. Now, what about basketball?

(01:09):
Did you ever you play any ball? Yeah? Man, you know,
I was a high school baller, so you know, I
still got a little bit of something, a little bit
left in the tank. Not much, you know, I didn't
know that. Now, who was around when you were playing?
Who were the good players in your time? I was
in high school with Eudonis Haslem. Uh, you know, Stevie
Blake who played for the Lakers for a while, and

(01:30):
a couple of guys that played in Europe. Yeah, so yeah,
that's good stuff. Nice, nice court Ciani. I don't know
if you remember court he was he was my time,
So yeah, Gave Gave. His dad was a coach that Killion. Yeah,
good guys. Oh right, ah right forgot but Killian also
had a rajah bell back in the days. Right, Yeah,
that's right. Yeah, yeah, he's a good baller. Yeah. Now

(01:55):
did you play any ball in school? Did you think
about playing ball in college or no? You know, I
I tried out. I mean like I got recruited and
literally this is exactly the day that my basketball career ended.
It was the first practice in college or second practice,
and I realized, Man, I'm going a hundred. I'm going
as hard as I can, and these guys are like
not breaking a sweat, and and this is just not fun,

(02:17):
Like this is not it's it's it's not gonna be
fun for me to try to keep up with guys
that are clearly faster. And I just and and and
I just said, you know what, this is God's way
of telling me that this is the last day of
my basketball basketball career. That was it. The basketball is
a beautiful thing, and Miami's come to it in such
a nice way. I mean we came to it late,
but we've come to it nicely. You got it. Yeah,

(02:40):
he tell me about I don't know if I've ever
asked you about you getting into politics. And I know
your dad obviously was in politics, But did you always
feel like it was a given? Were you a kid
who if I had known you in high school, you
would have said, I'm gonna be in politics one day.
Not not really. I mean I did get involved in
a little bit of student government, but it wasn't like, oh,
this is my lifelong goal. I want to be press
in the United States, it's or anything like that. I'm

(03:00):
not one of those guys. Uh And and you know,
politics is it's as you know, as everyone knows, it's
a rough sport and it's got its ups and downs.
And I saw my dad, who I think the world
of I mean, my dad came to this country at twelve,
didn't speak English, got a full scarship to high school,
full scholarship to university, and and and law school, got
to graduate degrees from Harvard, you know. I to me,

(03:21):
my dad was like the epitome of of what a
person should be. And I just saw him, you know,
that beat up on stuff and and and unfairly, and
I just thought, you know, I don't I don't know
that I like a system that is so unfair to
people who are sacrificing so much, you know. And uh
And I got older, and you know, I did the
things that people do about a house. I got married,

(03:42):
you know, I didn't have kids yet, had a small business.
And I realized, you know, as life went on that
you know, I had two options. I could I could
complain about things, right like, these are things that I
don't like. Or I could be part of the solution.
And I'm just not a complainer. It's not who I am.
I like to solve problems, and I like to be
part of the solution. And I don't like to live
and regret. I don't like to look back, you know,

(04:02):
five ten years later and say I should have done this.
I wish I would have done that with my life.
You know, you only get to live this life once,
so you know, you don't want to look back, and
and and and and there are very few things in
my life that I regret. So um, you know, I
I uh, you know, I was fortunate enough to run.
I ran out very hard, long race. I was very young.
I was thirty when I started, thirty two when I
got elected. And um, and I won by two hundred

(04:24):
and sixty two votes, so very very close election. If
I always keep I tell people all the time, if
a hundred and thirty one people would have changed your mind,
we wouldn't be having this conversation. And what conversation would
we be having. Do you think you were a guy
who would have run again, or do you think you
would have let that be what it was. I firmly
believe I would have let it be what it was.
You know, I I've never been a guy. I'm not

(04:45):
obsessed with being a public official. It doesn't define who
I am. And it's you know, so I would have
I think I would have felt like, you know, I
did my best. I tried to to change things. It
didn't work out, you know, voters weren't convinced or whatever. Um.
It's kind of like you seating for the bar after
law school. You know, I think if I would have
failed the bar exam, I think I think it would
have been my gods we of telling me you should

(05:06):
be doing something else with your life. You know. So
I don't know. I think it's not that I don't
I don't believe in retrying. You know, my dad lost
three times before he got to like that. He lost
three before he got to like the mayor. It just sometimes,
you know, people are built differently, They're constructed differently. And
I would have probably taken as a sign that God
wanted me to do something else in my life. What
do you do? I say, so many people win close races,

(05:28):
like Rick Scott won two gubernatorial races and said it
all by less than a percent. The current governor De
Santis less than half a percent crazy obviously the presidential
election forty four thousand votes out of a hundred and
sixty million. What do you what do you think when
you think about the fact that you won by two

(05:48):
sixty two whatever number it was. Are there any lessons
for you about this is what you do in order
to win those close ones rather than lose or do
you just say you know it was what it was.
I'll tell you this, and this a shocked people to
know I have won an election by two hundred sixty
two votes and have won an election by okay, and
I would prefer to win an election as hard, as

(06:09):
as as sort of intense and as nerve acting as
it is by two hundred sixty two votes, because when
I won by I thought I was on top of
the world. I'm like, I have a mandate, like I
can get things done, like like you know, everyone's just
gonna fall in line, everyone's gonna follow me. And I
was wrong. I try to change the charter that you know,
a year after to make it a strong mayor, and
I got crushed. I lost sixty thirty five. So you know,

(06:32):
you become I don't want to say become overconfident, but
you become a little bit over confident, thinking like, oh,
you know, I got this thing figured out. Uh. And
people in politics are they love to show you how
you don't have it figured out? And uh, you know,
and I think when I went by two hundred sixty
two votes, I was very humble, you know. I was like, man,
I just got here. Uh, you know, I gotta figure
this thing out. Uh. You know, I want to I
want to sort of stay quiet and not ruffle any

(06:55):
feathers until the moment's right until or until I have
to do something that I feel very compelled to do.
Um and and and then it led to my popularity
that allowed me to be elected by So that humility
that comes with a close race is really really important
and can really propel you. And by the way, you
can never forget it. I still have the shoes right there.
I'm pointing out them right there that I walked door

(07:15):
to door in my first campaign over twelve thou doors.
Have you know? They're these cohens made by Nankees with
with you know, holes on the bottom of the feet.
I love that. I love that. You you know, Miami
and Florida has been famous for walkers, for people like
the former governor walking Lawton, who walks the whole states.
So I love that that you continue that, Um, have

(07:36):
you changed your mind about any important topics as mayor
like once you get into it, as you said, you
have more information, You see things in different ways, you
spend more time. Has there ever been a big important oh? Baby, oh,
flip them around? Okay, okay, alright, loafers, all right, okay,
all right, I love that. Alright, So so but have

(07:56):
you ever changed your mind? Have you ever have you
ever been like, you know what, I D believe this,
but and I don't mean like on a small thing,
I mean a thing I I do. I think, I think,
you know, I think I've evolved in a lot of
different areas. You know, I'm Catholic, but you know I've
been a pro lgbt q um and and and and
that's been a sort of an evolution and a growth

(08:17):
and and and and and coming to my own sort
of conclusions and decisions. I think on the environment, you
know what I mean, I think you you know, as
a Republican, you know it's sort of anti um narrative
right to be pro environment um, you know, an immigration oftentimes, Uh,
there's a presumption that if you're a Republican for whatever reason,
you're not in favor of immigration. And I come from

(08:39):
an immigrant family. My parents came and mom came when
he was six, my dad when he was twelve, and
I feel like we're a country of immigrants. How can
we not embrace that as part of our DNA. So
I think that those are three big issues where you know,
my growth has led me to a significant amount of evolution,
and I suspect there will be many more in the future.

(09:16):
Talk to me about crypto, because obviously you've been in
the news a lot embracing crypto in ways other people
having what led you to it? And and how do
you explain crypto to people in your family who may
not even know what it is? Maybe, like you just
keep I keep hearing you go on about bitcoin, this
dog coin, this, blah blah. I even know what you're
talking about, Francis, So how do you explain it to them?

(09:37):
And what made you interested in it and what made
you bring it into the political sphere? Well, Carlos, I
think the measure of a good politician are a good
elected official or a punk and public servant is being
able to take the complicated and distill it, to make
it simple and understandable for people, for everyday people, and
to understand why it affects them. And so for me,

(09:57):
I think crypto is a great example of fully in
my ability to be able to do that right. So
for me, the way I explain it is, Look, crypto
is no different than when you open your computer and
you check your bank account. You have a digital representation
in that case in dollars of what you have, what
you what you own, right, what you have in your
bank account. So it's digital currency, right, Your your dollars
are digitally represented on your on your screen. It's exactly

(10:21):
the same thing in the case of a bitcoin. This
is a digital currency, not much like what your digital
representation is on your laptop, except that a community of
people have decided to assign that value. Right, and so
we we believe the dollar has value because it was
issued by the US government, and we as a community
believe it has value. If everyone in the United States

(10:41):
decided tomorrow the dollars don't have value and we're not
gonna accept it as a means of exchange, it wouldn't
have any value. It's literally based on an honor system,
if you will, and on our societal compact. So the
same thing has happened with bitcoin. What makes bitcoin interesting
and different is that it is not tied to a
central government. So when and this is a political thing,
so when governments spend too much money like you're seeing,

(11:04):
you know some people who have problems with government spending
right now, when they drive up inflation, things that affect
people right that. You know, people who have money in
their bank account, their money is worth less less. Uh.
You know, this system of of of digital currency is
not impacted by those decisions because it's outside of those decisions.
It's not run by a particular government, it's not run

(11:25):
by a particular person. It's run by a community of
people that are exchanging it. And that and the market
has created a value for it. So people often say, well,
it's not backed by anything. Of course, it's backed by something.
It's backed by what you can exchange it for. And
right now today you can go on any exchange anywhere
instantly and get for one bitcoin approximately forty five U
S dollars. So it has a tremendous amount of value.

(11:47):
It started off at zero and now it has forty
dollars worth of value for one bitcoin. So that's sort
of the easiest way that I can explain it. I
like that. That's good and clear. So what does it
mean that you're embracing bitcoin as mayor of my am? Like?
How does that? How does that manifest? Bitcoin and and
and blockchain and crypto generally has an incredible it can

(12:08):
have an incredible impact on the world. And the reason
why is it's democratizing. What does that mean? That's kind
of fancy word, right. It means that everyone is going
to be able to participate in ways they can't participate now. Example,
when a building is built, right, a skyscraper, eighty story
size scraper, it's built with two things, debt which comes
from a bank, and equity which comes from investors. Right,

(12:30):
they put in equity. Unless you're a multi multimillionaire and
own shares in a bank, or you're a multi multimillionaire
and are putting money in as the equity, you cannot
benefit from the upside of that. So that is why
we see such stratification in our society. That's why there's
such income inequality, because you have people that can't take
advantage of these opportunities to to to build wealth. And

(12:52):
so what's gonna happen is as you tokenize, right you
create a digital representation of a share of that building,
whether it's the debt part or the equity. In the future,
you're gonna be able to give a hundred dollars right
from your your you're checking you know, you're checking his
account from your paycheck, and say, I want to put
a hundred dollars in the equity of this eighty story building,
and you're gonna be able to get returns just like

(13:12):
the guy that's putting twenty million dollars into it. And
so that is why it's gonna unlock a tremendous amount
of investment opportunities for everyday people that right now have
all their money and banks and are not getting anything
in return. Well, well, you know, how much do you
and your dad talk about politics? Is it? You know
some families? You know how many many how many minutes
of every day? Is how you're asking me, Oh okay, well,

(13:35):
but but you know what And I asked that because
you know, you have guys like Peyton Manning and Archie Manning,
you know, Kobe and his pop, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds,
you know, uh, Jeb and obviously his brother and dad
and that kind of old dynamic. But but but do
you guys talk about it a lot? We do. I mean, look,
my dad's like one of my best friends, if not
my best friend. UM, we're very close. Um. And and

(13:57):
and my dad is my dad is much more of
a political and and I am in the sense that
you know, like like you you asked a question earlier,
which was a great question, like what I ever run again?
Had I not one? And my dad ran three times?
He didn't stop running until he won. And he's run
I think he's run the last time. I counted like
fifteen times in his life. And it's funny because it's

(14:17):
the first time in his entire life. He's seventy two
now that he's not talking about the office he's gonna
run for. So it's kind of like fun to have
a little bit less intensity. But my dad's he's he's
an interesting guy. He's very intense in a good way.
So sometimes I wish we could talk about basketball a
little bit more, talk about some some other things other
than politics. What what what what would be? What would

(14:39):
he give me as as big as takeaway? Because you
know that back when I was young, I was an
intern up for him. He was the ultimate rising star,
one of the rising stars. In a weird way. I
would almost say he was a little Obama esque in
his era. And he was. He was a young Harvard
law grad. Uh, you know, a person of color, kind
of a little bit on the outside. Haven't been like

(15:01):
winning right away? Obama lost his first race to so
like wasn't like a given. Both of them by way
like basketball, both of them basketball players, both of them
like policy. And there was a moment I remember where
I would say this was kind of around where he
people talked about him maybe running for governor, for senate.

(15:24):
Does he ever look back on that and say, hey, son,
here's here's what I would have done differently, or here's
the biggest lesson I take from my journey, whether it's
valuable to you or not. Yeah, you know, it's interesting
because we do make those sort of comparisons, and he
thinks I'm like, way, you know, way above uh. And
and I would say this to him, one is I
think I have. We have different personalities. My dad is

(15:44):
a little bit more um cerebral um. He's another more intellectual.
He loves to read, he loves to write, I'm a
little bit more of my mom's, you know, a personality
person which I think is helpul in politics. Uh And
and I think, you know, the other thing is I've
had leverage, um, you know, opportunities that maybe you know
a lot of people talk about focus on the whole
Kennedy Nixon debates and how it was were the first

(16:06):
televised debates. Well, like my generation is coming into the
first politicians social media sort of world. And so what
he didn't have was the ability to have potentially a
national profile because of things like social media, which i've
you know, I think you know, many would argue that
I've I've successfully leveraged, right, So I think I think
that's something that uh he you know, he would talk about.

(16:27):
I think also, you know, these platforms, you know, these
podcasts and twenty four hour news cable stations, you know,
give mayors an opportunity to to to talk to the
nation regularly. You know. I usually go on national television
anywhere from two to four times a week. Um. And
and and that's and then I have you know, I'm
blessed to know people like you and beyond these wonderful

(16:49):
podcasts that millions of people listen to. Uh so, I
mean that wasn't available to him, So yes, he was
always in those conversations. But it's it's listen, it's always
hard every level. It's like going from you know, NCA
basketball to pro you know, you get weeded down. You know,
it's really really hard because the people that are making
it to the next level presumably are talented, they have resources,
you know, all these things have to have to go

(17:11):
your way. And in a nonpartisan position like mayor, it's
often hard to pivot to a partisan world in the
future because you're not working on a partisan basis, which
frankly oftentimes makes you successful and popular. Right, yeah, Yeah,
who's the most talented political figure you've met so far? Wow,
there's so many talented political people from both sides of

(17:33):
the aisle um. You know, obviously, but but but but
using whatever definition you want to use, So this is
your dream, I'll give you examples of presidents, and I'll
give you examples of nonpresidents. So presidents that I think
are obviously extremely talented, people like Kennedy, you know, people
like you know, Johnath Kennedy, people like uh, you know, Reagan, um,
Bill Clinton, Uh, certainly Obama, although I would agree with

(17:56):
you that Obama was you know, you know, connected on
sort of a more cerebral level and on a policy level. Um.
And then and then you have uh, you know, and
then you have people that were doers, right like you
have people like l B. J. And even now you
could argue Biden is who's a long time senator. You know,
they're not not so not so much inspirational people, not

(18:16):
people that are like they're like making you want to
run through a wall. But but but getting things done
from a policy perspective, whether you agree by the way
or don't agree on their policies, you can't. You gotta
acknowledge the guys passed two major pieces of legislation and
in a year in a commerce that can't get anything,
you know, oftentimes it's not able to get anything done right.
And and then and then you have I think on
you know, you have people like Marco Rubio, people like

(18:38):
Dan Crenshaw on the Republican side, I like Pete Buddha
check people. Jack is a former mayor, UH Secretary of
Transportation who I think is extremely dynamic, extremely intelligent. I
looked at people who regardless of whether you're Republican or Democrat,
who articulate their side of the out in the best way,
so that even if like you're let's say, I'm I'm
a Republican, right, but when I hear Bill Clinton or

(19:01):
I hear a pet budha check, I think to myself, man,
that guy's really smart. He really knows what he's saying,
and he makes you he tugs you a little bit
in their direction, right, and and the reverse is true.
And so I think that's what real political talent is,
and dynamism, and that's what oftentimes we're missing in a
modern day world that I think people are thirsty for.

(19:21):
All Right, now, play political general manager who's not a
politician but should play politics. Like you know, in football
these days, they take guys like Jimmy Graham and Tonio
Gates didn't play college football and bring them into it.
So you play political general manager who should be a
political figure who's not in politics. Now, So I would say,

(19:42):
I'm gonna describe a more generic person than a national individual.
I would say actors have a great opportunity. Obviously, you know,
you have somebody like Donald Trump who was a celebrity
or whatever. But you know that Ronald Reagan, who was
an actor, you know, when you're an actor, you know,
part of delivering a message is understanding how your audience
receives the message. And I think what's amazing about actors

(20:05):
is they're not just acting apart. They're conscientious of how
is it being received. And that's why I think they're
often very good communicators. And communication is an enormously important
part of being in politics. I think athletes oftentimes and
entertainers who who who have learned the dynamics of of
of of of getting popular support are people that can

(20:28):
um that can that can do it um and and
I just think that there's there's probably a big group
of people that are extremely talented but don't want to
do it. So I would put that. That would be
my other categories is all those great people who should
be getting in politics but don't because they don't want
to be. They don't want the scrutiny, they don't want

(20:50):
the unfair media criticism, they don't want um you know,
they don't want their family exposed. They don't want you know,
they may have family members or baggage in their family
has nothing to do with them, but that that could
come out and that they don't want that out there.
Obviously it's a huge sacrifice financially oftentimes, and they don't
want that to make that sacrifice. So, um, I think

(21:10):
that that's a whole another group of people. And you
know who you are out there? You know who you
are or smart and engaging and funny and self deprecating
and and and and are and are self confident um
and and and For me, like people often ask me
what do you um? You know, who do you want
to support in our given rates? Oftentimes I tell them
I don't really. What I look at is values. You know,

(21:31):
are they humble? Are they smart? Are they ethical? You know?
Are they are they generous with their time? Are they
giving to they have a giving a servant's heart? You know,
that kind of stuff that I think is more really
more important than how they feel about a particular issue. Hey,
why did you end up being a Republican? Do you
think you know? You know, it's it's an interesting question.
I think, you know, I grew up, like I said, Catholic,

(21:53):
I grew up sort of a conservative in in in
the sense that, uh, you know, I think uh government
should be as as small as possible, right, it should
try to do its core competencies and then sort of
let the private sector dictate everything on a day to
day basis. I believe in national defense, but I also
think that the Republican Party like any party, you know,

(22:14):
and I don't, by the way, I don't love the
party system generally speaking. I think it's kind of a
little bit of of a false construct of false echotomy,
like you're either this or you're that. Um. But but
and it's a pigeonhole like okay, so your Republicans, so
you must think like this or you're you know. And
I think we're more complicated human beings in that right.
But I think for me, when I was young and
I was eighteen, you know, I think my view of

(22:36):
the world was you know, you know, I want I
believe in a party of song national defense. I believe
in a party of of of you know, balanced budgets,
which frankly neither of the two parties I've really done.
I believe in a party of of of you know,
of you know, having a small government, limited government. Uh.
And then I think I think the party should evolve
to to to be um uh, to be more embracing right,

(22:58):
because look, you win elections, it's important to motivate your base.
That is important, but you often win elections by of
the people who are in the middle. And that's a
that that that's a pendulum. That pendulum swings based on
a variety of issues, and so you have to be
able to capture that. If you were to go back,
talk to your younger self eighteen nineteen, what do you
think would surprise him the most? Like, like, if if

(23:19):
he were able to watch your journey where you are now, Like,
what would literally surprise Himsel I'm with this kid, We're
playing pick up basketball, and where are we at? We're tropical?
I was, I was. I was what I would call
it late bloomer, you know, I I I you know,
at eighteen seventeen, I was probably interested in girls and
basketball and not much else, you know. And I think

(23:43):
and I think and I think, you know, um, you know,
I think I think he would be he would be
impressed that I sort of, uh pivoted at some point
in my life to two more serious endeavors. Um. I
think from a family perspective, hopefully he'll be proud of
the family man that I am in terms of having
a wife and two children, two beautiful children. Be successful

(24:04):
not just politically but also professionally. Right. I think I've
always felt that politics, uh shouldn't detract from your professional success,
and that people should should also want professionally successful people
in politics. Right, if you're professionally successful, that you know,
if you if you can win in the private sector,
then you should be able to help in the public sector.

(24:24):
So I would I would hope that that he would
be proud of me and and and who I've become,
anything about how life works that would surprise him at
that age. Um, I think what would surprise him is
that is that nothing is given to you. Everything has
to be You have to work hard for everything, even
the things that look easy, Like even when I won

(24:45):
b it was not easy. It was hard. It looks
easy because the result was an overwhelming result, but that's
that's discredits how I got there, right, and how you
know it's eight years us It was a you know,
grueling campaign of raising money and and having a vision
and connecting with people and and all the things that

(25:06):
I had done. So it's it's it looks easy, but
it's not easy. And I think I think my You know,
my eighteen year old self would be shocked to know
how hard you have to work to get ahead and
be successful. What do you think is gonna happen in Cuba?

(25:37):
None of us know for sure, But given that that's
the birthplace of your mom and dad, Um, what do
you think is gonna happen? Uh? Well, Carlos, I think
you said the wisest thing that I've probably heard anybody say,
because it takes a lot of humility to say it,
which is nobody knows for sure. Right, nobody knows for
sure because irrespective of the way people talk about the
issue as if they know, like a if it only

(26:00):
did this, it would happen. If only did that, it
would happen, The truth is, we don't know. We have
a variety of it's like a problem like my dad
would tell me. You know, it's a mathematical guy, sort
of a mathematical genius. You know, there's a probabilistic set
of outcomes based on decisions. And you know, I happen
to be someone who really feels that if if that,
we have to define the end goal number one, and

(26:22):
I don't think that anybody has clearly defined the end
goal For a very very important reason they're afraid to
write because if the end goal is liberating the Cuban people,
if that is really in goal, then there may be
steps that have to be taken in the American people
right now, I don't want to take to get there,
right and and and if the if the goal is
uh short of that, right, like if saying, you know,

(26:44):
we're willing to do X, Y and Z, but no
more because we don't want to intervene. We don't want
to be seen as interventionalists, you know what I mean,
We don't want to take risk with human life, you know,
American lives. Then uh, then then essentially what you're saying
is your guys are kind of on your own. You know,
we're willing to do a few things here and there,
but you're kind of on your own. And I don't

(27:05):
think politicians want to say that, you know, they they're
kind of dancing around all these issues and often times
the things what's frustrating about politics as people aren't don't
speak clearly. They don't just say, look, let's let's be honest.
You either want to go all the way, which means
you may have to do things that you don't want
to do and take some risks that may seem a
little bit out of wack, or we're only gonna do X,

(27:26):
Y and Z, And that means, hey, this may not end,
you know what I mean, This may this maybe another
four or fifty years that you're suffering, that you're getting beaten,
that you're you don't have freedom of you know, happening
ninety miles away, with China and Russia influencing the outcome
of it. So I just wish the conversation was a
little bit more um honest. And so if I hear,

(27:46):
if I read through that, I think what I hear
you saying is we're probably not in an interventionist phase
here in the US, so we're probably not likely to
take it all the way there. And your dad's generation
who grew up there is getting older than now, in
their seventies, maybe eighties, maybe more. Is the reasonable expectation
you think is that Cuba is no longer going to

(28:07):
be the hot button issue ten years for now, that
that generation will no longer be as as central to
political conversation in Miami and in Florida, and therefore we
won't really talk about Cuba in the same way. Well,
I I would. I don't think I could say that,
And I'll tell you why. I think it's part of
what you said. It is true. In other words, the

(28:27):
sort of what I call the exile generation, right, which
is came in the sixties. Uh. And in my dad's
generation and my grandfather's generation, which Frankie has passed, that
generation clearly is almost non existent. Almost. I say, I
don't want to offend them, it's almost non existent in
this discussion. They have either passed or they're at an
age where they don't have the physical strength and the

(28:48):
energy off many of them to be part of this discussion.
What's interesting about it is that there has been a
new generation that has picked up the baton, if you will.
And and there are two segments. One of them is
the in Cuba Cubans who were born in the revolution,
who are basically born in a communist ideology. But I've
gotten to the point in their lives where they're twenty

(29:09):
years old and life really sucks for them, you know,
it's really it's really I'm sorry to use that word,
but it's it's really bad, right, And they realize that
there is no future and and so this fraud that
they've been perpetuated, you know, for for for their whole
entire life. They've realized, you know, we have enough Internet
to know that the world is a lot better outside, right,
And and irrespective of whether you blame the United States

(29:31):
or the embargo or whatever it is that you blame
it on, it's clear that everywhere else it's not suffering
while we're suffering, right, And so that's part of it.
And the other one is the new arrival Cubans who
are not who are not part of that exile generation,
and they have taken the baton, by the way, on
the voted for Donald Trump. That's just a fact. And

(29:51):
those new arrival Cubans are extremely um, you know if
passion on the issue, and very very intervene, real list
bent and pro intervention because they understand, because they just
came from Cuba, that if we don't do something, nothing's
gonna happen. And so and then you you mix in
there what I call the Tweeners, which is my generation. Right,

(30:14):
the people who were not born in Cuba were born
here in Miami of Cuban parents, often conservative parents, and
that is where there was a notion for a while
that and maybe when Obama was elected, because he did
very well in the Cuban community, there was a notion
for a while that that the issue is either going
to fade or that it was gonna moderate right in

(30:34):
terms of how Cuban Americans viewed the issue. And I
think this new arrival Cubans who are voting and who
are voting in large numbers for Donald Trump have have
almost stopped that momentum in its tracks and recalibrated the discussion.
So it's interesting. I'm gonna do a little bit of
rapid fire with you if I can't, of course. Uh,
your best celebrity moment of all time? Wow? Best celebrity

(30:57):
moms supposed to be rapid about this, right, uh Um.
I've had a lot of them. I think one of
the coolest ones was when I gave Lebron James and
and Dwyane Wade and Chris Boss the Kisa the city
when they kind of came together, right the Big three,
when they had that big event in the American Airlines
Arena at the time, that was a pretty cool moment. Yeah,

(31:18):
Miami has had some beautiful sports there. The most interesting
athlete in Miami today, most interesting athlete in Miami today.
I think it's Udonis Haslem D's a childhood friend. Um.
And and you know, I would say Alonso, but he's
not a current athlete. Alonso is a former athlete. But
I look at it from a different lens, right, which
is who is the athlete that is impacting the community

(31:39):
of the most? And frankly, Alonso was probably the former
athlete impact community the most. And Udonis is the one
that's most in front on social justice issues, most in
front on urban issues, and on technology. He's really dynamic
and hopefully he won't retire soon, but it it looks
like he may be a former athlete and sometimes soon.
It's incredible how long he's played. It's like twenty years.

(32:00):
It's gonna have to take over. So BAM's a nice player.
BAM's a nice player. UM. Your favorite book of all time?
So it's a volume set which is written by Winston Churchill,
the History of the English speaking people. And it reminds
me of a good quote that he gave where he said,
you know, um, history will will be kind to me

(32:22):
because I intend to write it. Um. And he was.
He was a prolific historical writer. He obviously wrote about um,
you know, the history of things speaking people. He had
a great um set of novels on World War Two.
Um and Uh. Look, but I love I mean, I'm
reading now. I was just reading Lyndon Johnson's biography by Cairo,
which is incredible. And I'm reading the McCullum biography of Truman.

(32:45):
Um and and and then I and then I love
fiction as well. I love C. S. Lewis. Um. You know,
these are all great, great writers. Your favorite TV series?
Favorite TV series. Man, I'm gonna I'm gonna be I'm
gonna be saying something about myself by saying in this huh,
I really like I thought Billions was really good. My
wife would tell me to say, bid Angel because we're

(33:05):
watching Chosen right now. That's it's it's it's actually a
really cool kind of contemporary of view on the life
of Jesus, which is really good. But there's so many,
so many good series that we watched together with my
wife and I pretty much watch all our shows together.
The most interesting thing you've learned about love? The most
interesting thing that I've learned about love is that it's
a lifetime. Uh. It requires a lifetime of investment. You know,

(33:30):
it's it's a lifetime Uh, it's a lifetime challenge, right,
love is is it's uh, it's the most amazing thing
in the world. And it's it's how I think God
manifests himselves. But it's in terms of a partnership, right,
in terms of a matrimony, it's it's it's a commitment,
and it's a lifelong commitment that the more you invest
in it, the more you get back. For me, if

(33:51):
I gave you one do over, what would you use
it on? Oh? There are a couple of months. But
if I had to use one, I probably would have
been an Avy seal. You it of what I would
have been an ABCO. I would have gone to Annapolis
and been an ABCO. Really yeah, interesting. Yeah, But I'm
not I'm not a gun guy, you know. I just

(34:13):
I just think that they are warriors and they're able
to push themselves. First of all, obviously, they're defending our country,
and I feel like there's no greater, um, you know,
other than maybe you know, not too many greater callings
than to put your life at risk in that way, um,
for the defense of your country. But I also think
that the training that they go through that, they have

(34:33):
to be of steel resolved. I'm very much into working out,
as you know, so you know the sort of um,
the elite physical training, UM, the elite mental training and UM.
So yeah, if I do it over again, I'll be
an a seal. Was Donald Trump a good president? I
think Donald Trump did some good things. From a policy perspective.

(34:54):
I think his stands on China was very good. I
think moving the embassy to to jerusale him was a
very good decision. Um. I think uh, I personally like
a lot of his Supreme Court Justice UH nominations, so
I think they're From a policy perspective, I think he
did some very very good things. I think he did

(35:14):
some things that I didn't like. Um, you know, I
think the obsession on the border as as opposed to
solving immigration right and and right sizing immigration legal immigration.
By the way, it doesn't have to be illegal immigration.
It's not this obsession with the illegal immigration, right sized
legal immigration. We're a country of immigrants. Were a full
employment we need employees, we need people to work, and immigrants,

(35:35):
by and large our law abiders, not law breakers, as
he suggested. Uh and and and they're also you know,
and we need to know where they are, we need
to know who they are. We need to tax them,
you know, like we pay taxes. Everybody should be paying taxes.
So I think there was a missed opportunity there. I
think just some missed opportunities on climate. Um. I understand
where he's coming from on saying that the world needs
to be involved, but lead instead of criticized lead, Um,

(35:58):
you know so so, and then of some personality stuff.
It just doesn't resonate with me. I mean when you
when I talk about the leaders that I articulated, um,
that are people that I that inspire me. I think
a leader should be inspiring. I don't think it should
be someone who puts people down. I think it should
be someone who builds people up. And so that's just
my brand. That's who I am, and that's how I think.
That's how I grew up, and that's and that's that's

(36:20):
what I believe in. Who would you like to see
as the nominee in Francis ar uh uh? Who would
I like to see as a nominee? And look, I
think there's a lot of people that could do a
good job on the on the Republican side. Um, I
think I like Dan Crenshaw, he's a congressman in uh
In in in in Texas, former Navy seal by the way,

(36:42):
who lost his eye and uh I e D explosion
I think in Fallujah. Um, I like NICKI Haley, who
was a former ambassador to the U n former governor
of South Carolina. So you have foreign policy, you have
executive experience. UM. You know, obviously Mike pump Poe's former
Secretary of State eight is somebody that's interesting. Ben Sass

(37:02):
is someone that's interesting. Obviously, Marco I would be you know,
he would probably kill me if I didn't say his name.
You know. Uh, he's a friend. Uh and I by
my personally I supported him the last time in the
last election. Um. You know. So I think those are
people that that would would would be good nominees, you know,
and including me. I gotta throw myself in there just
in case. You never know? Now, would you do that?

(37:23):
Mayor Pete obviously did and came very close. I think
if Iowa had gone a different way, we might be
having a different conversation. Would would you run for president?
I'll say this, Uh, Number one, you never count, you
never discount your stuff. Why would you know what I
mean that's presenting at this stage number two he he uh.
And by the way, not just him, I mean there
was many mayors that round, or maybe former former mayors
that run. You had the Blasio running, you had him

(37:46):
was you know, coming out of being a mayor, Julian
Castro who was a mayor of San Antonio. Uh, you
had I think Corey Booker was a mayor of Newark,
you know, I mean you had a lot of former
mayors that were were mayors that we're running. So I think,
what's like we're talking about this earlier, you know, the
mayoral position because of COVID, because the twenty four new cycle,

(38:06):
because of social media, it's been elevated, and and people
know national mayors a lot more than they did, you know,
in generation ago, And so I think it becomes more possible.
And and like you said, Pete was a great example
of someone who did a phenomenal job of of of
making what was impossible before potentially possible. Do you feel
like you're ready to run for president? You know, that's

(38:28):
a great question. I'll tell you this. When I when
I ran for mayor the first time, most people forget that.
I ran for mayor once before I was thirty four
years old. Uh, and I ran for mayor um and I, um,
you know, I actually ended up getting out of that race.
My wife got pregnant and we had been trying to

(38:49):
have a child for four years, and we was getting
kind of nasty the race, and we didn't want to
put I don't want to put her, and we don't
want to put ourselves through what would ultimately be a
nasty race. Um and and and and and upon reflection,
I looked back and said, you know, I don't know
that I was. You know, I knew I was intellectually ready.
I knew I was, But you know, the maturity is

(39:09):
the issue, right right. You know, you're having run a
major city. Uh. And now I'm going to be president
of the US Conference of Mayor, So I'm gonna be
president of all the mayors in the United States. I
mean those are some you know, major executive opportunities and
and and national leadership opportunities. So will I be ready?
You know, by the time it's it's it's all said
and done, you know, I think that's uh, that's the question.

(39:31):
And and and I have to feel good about it internally, right,
But I mean I think Obama was around my age. Uh,
Kennedy was around my age. Pete certainty maybe be younger
than I am. Uh So I think there's certainly precedent
for someone my age running. And and frankly, I'll be
honest with you, I actually think the American people would
want to see someone that's the next generation candidate, whether

(39:53):
it's me or someone else. I really do think people
are are thirsting for that. You know, it's so interesting,
Mayor that um, Florida has just been Massachusetts used to
be the hotbed in California for presidential candidates, and now
Florida arguably is becoming that because you'll have Marco, You'll
have de Santists. I bet you Rick Scott will think

(40:13):
about it hard, um yourself. Who else am I leaving out? What?
Why do you think that is that Florida has become
in such a hotbed for presidential contenders? Well, I think
Florida is a microcosm of the country. Right. It's it's
first US, the third largest electoral votes. It's the first
electoral votes that are in play, right, because the first
to are California, New York are not in play, or

(40:36):
California and Texas are not. Oftentimes I've not been in play, right, so, um,
you know so so so it's it's the first one
that's purple, right, that's in play. And if the country
has been purple, I mean we've we've e vacillated from
a Republican to a democrat um. And so as Florida goes,
oftentimes a nation goes. Obviously, we saw that Trump in
Florida and lost the presidency, which finally hasn't happened in

(40:57):
a long time. And I think Trump uh was of
the perspective, and I think if he could have a
do over, he probably would go back and not put
as much time in emphasis on Florida that he won
by four hundred thousand votes he wanted the nineties in
two thousand and sixteen by a hundred thousand votes. He
wanted by three thousand, hundred thousand votes more. If he
could sprinkle those three thousand votes around like you were
articling at the beginning, he could have won the race. Right.

(41:19):
So you know, I think Florida is critical, uh. You know,
it's a massive amount of electoral votes, very purple uh state.
And so if if you can win a state like Florida,
you create a nice blueprint for being able to win
the country. But but I think that's why, and I think,
you know what, it obviously has to do with the
talk that we're producing here too. Okay, finally, covid um heartbreaking.

(41:41):
What seems to be happening in Florida. Do you think
what the governor is doing makes sense? Is there something
different that the governor or you or other leaders should
be doing detroy and get things under control. Yeah. Look,
you know, we've been breaking records, and they're not kind
of good kind of records. Right the last three or
four days, I think Florida's broken the record for most cases.
Are cases are new cases are up, Our percent positivities

(42:03):
of our hospitalizations are up. I have a a friend
from high school who's in the ICU and was unvaccinated,
and it's also become increasingly a pandemic among the unvaccinated people.
Are hospitals are not vaccinated, and people that are vaccinated
do not experience serious complications. And so you know, I'm
here to help. You know, I'm not here to criticize
per se. But I mean, if the governor would call

(42:24):
me and asked me for advice. I would say, look,
go back to the way you were handling this at
the beginning. At the beginning, he allowed, uh, you know,
the local governments to make decisions. He empowered them, and
then he supported them. You know. He came to Miami once,
I remember, and at my suggestion, you know, messaged, hey,
you know the local governments have put a mask mandate.
You need to follow the mask mandate. Right. So so

(42:46):
he did that, um and and and at some point
decided not to do that anymore. Uh. And I think
this is one of those situations where oftentimes, UM, politicians
like to act like doctors, and doctors seem like they're
acting like politicians. So the recommendation that I would give
to people is go talk to your local doctor, Like,
go talk to your your physician, the person who you

(43:09):
talk to pre COVID, and you're gonna talk to post COVID,
because those are the people that are not political. They
have no dog in the fight. They just want you
to be healthy right there. They're there to protect you.
And I would say that's the best source of advice.
And I think if you talk to them, they would
tell you to get vaccinated. Um. That that's your best
protection against getting either serious complications or uh, you know,

(43:29):
or or your family getting sick. Yeah. I do hope
things get better. And obviously you and I will talk
a lot about Aussi Fest because I'm excited about Aussie
Fests coming there in a healthy way. Brother, I'm so excited.
I'm so glad that you believe in us, uh to
have you know, reached out and uh you have an
amazing it's an amazing festival. It's an amazing event. But

(43:50):
it's it's really about your magnetism and your charisma and
your network, you know, and being able to bring the
biggest names in in in in in having these conversations
that are so important to the future vitality of our country.
So I want to thank you. I want to thank
you for believing in me. I want to thank you
for believing in our city. And we're gonna make you
proud to know you're gonna make us proud. Good. Hey,
I so appreciate that I got so many friends who

(44:12):
are ready to come and uh and we'll do it right,
So looking forward to it. It's not a hard pitch
to get him to come to Miami, right, It's not.
It's not. It's it's a it's an easy one. Hey, listen.
Thank you for giving me so much time, and I'm
gonna try and catch up with you this weekend if
you have time. You got a brother. Likewise, okay, take
care what Yeah. Thank you for listening to this episode

(44:46):
of The Carlos Watson Show podcast. If you enjoyed this episode,
please leave us a review wherever you listen to your
podcast