Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Says DeSantis Isn't 'a Relationship Guy'

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Says DeSantis Isn't 'a Relationship Guy'

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, blasts Ron DeSantis over his endorsement struggles with Fla. GOP members of Congress: 'Not particularly a relationship guy'

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

• Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on Friday said Gov. DeSantis isn't "particularly a relationship guy."
• Suarez made the comment as he critiqued the governor's endorsement record among Florida Republicans.
• While on "Fox & Friends," Suarez said that he was a "people person" who could connect with voters.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who on Thursday jumped into the 2024 presidential race, said in a recent interview that fellow White House aspirant and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis isn't "a relationship guy" as he sought to explain the governor's struggles with securing endorsements among the Sunshine State's plethora of GOP House members.

Suarez, a Republican who was first elected as the mayor of Miami in 2017, is now the third Floridian to enter the 2024 race for the White House alongside former President Donald Trump and DeSantis.

And in a Friday interview on the Fox News program "Fox & Friends," Suarez critiqued DeSantis — who jumped into the presidential race last month and is widely seen as the biggest threat to a Trump presidential renomination — over his political acumen in a race where GOP federal officials in Florida have by and large continued to support the former president's return to the White House.

"You know, the governor is not particularly a relationship guy," Suarez said on the program. "He doesn't have, from what I understand, a great relationship with a lot of our federal elected officials."

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"That is why he lost, I think, 12 out of 13 [congressional] endorsements in his own state ... because he doesn't call people and he doesn't try to build a relationship," the mayor continued.

While Trump has earned the support of 12 out of the 20 House Republicans from Florida — including high-profile lawmakers like Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds — DeSantis' sole Republican congressional backer from the Sunshine State so far is Rep. Laurel Lee, a former Florida secretary of state.

Suarez has not attracted much major support at the onset of his campaign but, in the interview, he sought to differentiate his leadership skills from DeSantis, remarking that he is a "people person" — a quality that some current and former lawmakers have said was lacking with the governor.

"You know, I'm very different," Suarez said during the Fox News interview. "Like I said, I'm accessible. I call people. I'm a people person."

"I love people and I look at them in the eye and shake their hands, you know, when I see them. So, that's never been an issue for me," he added.

Despite the criticism from some Republicans, DeSantis remains Trump's top competitor in the GOP race and has been embraced by conservatives across the country for his brash governing style in Florida.