‘What’s a Uyghur’? GOP Presidential Candidate Whiffs on Foreign Policy Question

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is vying for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2024 election, appeared to be unfamiliar with the Uyghur ethnic group when asked about his stance on China during a radio show Tuesday.

When discussing his China policies and campaign priorities with talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, Suarez couldn’t answer a question about Uyghurs, appearing to have never heard of their existence. Uyghurs are a Muslim ethnic minority largely located in the Xinjiang province of China that the Chinese government has placed into internment camps and tortured through physical and sexual abuse, according to a United Nations Human Rights Committee report, as part of what the U.S. has deemed a genocide.

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“Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?,” Hewitt asked.

“The what?” Suarez said.

Hewitt then repeated that he was asking about the Uyghurs.

“What’s a Uyghur?” Suarez asked.

“Ok, we’ll come back to that. You got to get squared on that,” Hewitt said.

Mayor @FrancisSuarez was pretty good for a first conversation on air about national security –except for the huge blind spot on the Uyghurs. “What’s a Uyghur?” is not where I expect people running for president to say when asked about the ongoing genocide in China.

— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) June 27, 2023

China has denied committing such horrific acts and committing genocide against the Uyghurs, despite large amounts of evidence through satellite imagery, leaked footage and testimonials from members of the ethnic group.

Suarez announced his run on June 15. He joined a crowded field of Republican presidential hopefuls.

“I’m going to run for president. I’m going to run for your children and mine,” Suarez said in his campaign announcement video. “It’s time we give them the future they deserve. It’s time to take things into our own hands. It’s time to get things started.”