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The Rubin Report
The Real Reason Blue Cities Are Choosing Decline | Mayor Francis Suarez
00:48:23
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez about his final days in office; the success of Miami as a model of economic growth, safety, and resilience; why Miami could potentially vote in a democrat mayor; the upcoming...
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- [00:00]
Francis Suarez
Communism is the easiest sell in politics. Every society is an inverted pyramid. And so it's very easy to tell them, look, guys, if things aren't working out, I have the answer. I'm going to use government. Government's going to be the vehicle to take more from these people. Let's flatten that triangle. What we will do is to buy those land that be out of production to give them poor countrymen, Fidel Castro, that he said, give us all your property, give us all your businesses, and we'll make everybody here. And he did. He made everybody equally poor, equally miserable. I just don't understand how this guy thinks. This guy, meaning Mandami, thinks that he could squeez more money out of people without seeing a mass exodus to raise $10 billion a year that would make.
- [00:37]
Dave Rubin
Those buses free pay for universal child care.
- [00:40]
Francis Suarez
You know, people talk about gun violence in America. So if you were to look at gun deaths in America, we would rank up there maybe top 20. But if you pull out the top five or the top 10 blue cities in America, you take out their homicide, we go down to, like 180. Everybody in Miami has guns, and we have the lowest homicide rate. So is it a gun thing, or is it a social policy thing?
- [00:57]
Dave Rubin
Is it that sort of Cuban PTSD that we have in Miami that will always save us? All right, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. I should say outgoing Mayor Francis Suarez. We've done this many times before, sometimes digitally, sometimes on location in Miami, sometimes in this room. Right before we sat down, we agreed no jackets, because.
- [01:27]
Francis Suarez
No jackets.
- [01:28]
Dave Rubin
You could be retiring. This could be your retirement show. Right now.
- [01:31]
Francis Suarez
It's like a weekend thing, right?
- [01:33]
Dave Rubin
I'm very glad to have you. Everyone knows how I feel about the free state of Florida. And this city in particular, which I love, I think is the number one city in this country. We're going to talk about all the successes and all of those things, but your tenure is coming to an end. We'll talk a little bit about the upcoming election.
- [01:50]
Francis Suarez
Likely. Likely.
- [01:51]
Dave Rubin
Well, that's a new well, why don't we start with that?
- [01:53]
Francis Suarez
Sure. Why, like likely?
- [01:54]
Dave Rubin
Why likely?
- [01:56]
Francis Suarez
So the way it works in Miami, and not everywhere is like this, you have an election which will be November 4th, just like in New York, there'll be a November 4th election, and we'll talk about that, I'm sure. No doubt. And to win, you have to get 50% plus one. So what happens is there are probably half a dozen serious candidates. So the likelihood that someone reaches that 50% plus one threshold is very low.
- [02:19]
Dave Rubin
Yeah.
- [02:20]
Francis Suarez
So there will more likely be a runoff. The runoff will be in early December, December 8th. It takes a few days to certify the results, and then the new winner is sworn in five days after the certification. So when you do all the math, the likely first day for the new mayor, last day for me is I think noon on December 17th. So that's my Arriva Dirci day, most likely.
- [02:42]
Dave Rubin
So. So in that you have had such a successful 10 year here, and I'd love. And I know you love going through the numbers, so I'd love to hear some numbers about the economy and homelessness. I still tell people all the time that you literally, once I was live on air, I said something about the. Like, I said something like, we have 100 homeless people in Miami, and you texted me during the show and you gave me the actual number. So I know we can do all that stuff.
- [03:04]
Francis Suarez
Sure.
- [03:05]
Dave Rubin
But as the tenure is ending here, there is another Suarez who's well known in this town, who is running.
- [03:11]
Francis Suarez
That's right.
- [03:12]
Dave Rubin
But I'm a little surprised that we don't have somebody that everyone is like, oh, this is going to be the winner in that we've had such a successful run with you. So what is going on here?
- [03:22]
Francis Suarez
Well, I think part of it is if you look at historically in Miami, you've had a dynamic mayor, and then it's almost like the city needs to take a break from all the dynamism and then they hire someone who's not quite as dynamic. So my predecessor wasn't a super dynamic guy. Wasn't particularly a visionary. His predecessor was a super dynamic guy. So we've sort of followed that pattern. It is a little bit worrisome to me as a lifelong Miami and the first Miami born mayor, that someone like us, we're about the same age. Right. Doesn't feel that they either can or have the desire to run for office in what we both are agreeing. You just said, and I agree with you wholeheartedly, is the best city in America and arguably one of the best cities in the world, in my opinion. And I have the numbers to prove it, of course. But really, it's a little bit of an indictment on politics as a whole. I think it's an indictment. We're talking a little bit off the air about the mainstream media and the character assassinations and sort of how they make it really difficult for good people to want to serve. Right. Miami's unique. I get to work in the private sector, which is nice, but a lot of People are.
- [04:32]
Dave Rubin
For the record, I've only had a lawyer once in my life for one little thing, about a year ago, and I'm sitting across from him right now. And we dealt with.
- [04:39]
Francis Suarez
And I think we do dealt with it very quickly. Yeah. Yes, yes. And so. And so I'm. I'm a professional. Right. And so I actually think part of our great success is the fact that I can be a professional. And so I'm always tethered to the private sector. So I'm. I have a foot in the private sector, foot in the public sector, obviously, always being careful to avoid conflicts and any ethical issues that may come up. But it's. It's. It's important. If you look at, you know, the President of the United States, I think one of his main reasons for his success is how much time he spent in the private sector. He is not a prototypical politician. Right. And I think we were talking off the air as well, about how he has changed what it's like to be presidential. Right? Presidential. Before we would think Ronald Reagan, right? This guy who was the great communicator, buttoned up, always looking perfect, always saying the right thing. And I think we struggled sometimes at the beginning with Trump. I know I did, because he didn't fit that mold. I think what he has demonstrated, particularly now in the second term, but certainly in the first term as well, is that he has redefined what it means to be presidential. And he's done it by being a strong leader, by being a great negotiator, by being someone who is the most resilient person I've ever encountered. I've never seen a person more resilient, more under attack, more able to glance at the blows. I was in the White House a few weeks ago for the G20 announcement. I'm sure you're gonna wanna talk about that. And the way he manages the press. I mean, he's sitting in the Resolute desk. They're all there. And it's like an elementary school teacher with elementary school students. You know, he's sitting there going, be quiet. Yeah, you're being disrespectful. Where are you from? And the guy's like, I'm from Australia. He goes, when my. The Australian delegation comes, I'm going to tell him, you're a bad kid. You know what I mean? And it's funny, but it's true. No one has ever treated these people in the way that they treat other people. And I think he is, for the first time, redefining that. So going Back to Miami. You know, I think our residents are going to have a tough choice, right? They're going to have to pick the best of the bunch, and hopefully they do, because I think Miami is politician proof, frankly. I really do. But a good.
- [06:56]
Dave Rubin
That sounds scary to me. Is politician proof.
- [06:59]
Francis Suarez
I do at some level. Right. I think Miami is such a resilient city. We're so dynamic, have such a strong private sector. Right. We have such a strong community that, you know, government, most of the time, I always say I just want to screw things up, right. As government, you know, I'm not trying to be the hero. I'm trying not to be the villain. Right. And I think we've obviously been very successful that. But I also think that what I've tried to do is redefine who we are as a. As a city. And I do think a leader has that ability. And so we'll see who among the current crop can. Can articulate that.
- [07:32]
Dave Rubin
So one of these guys has your last name, and he was mayor of Miami, and I assume you are voting for him. Your father we're talking about, obviously. So why in that your Suarez, this thing has been so successful, He's a name here. I mean, why isn't he running away with this thing? Is all of this just a function of our success, that people aren't that interested in politics here because it's going so well? Something like that.
- [07:58]
Francis Suarez
I think, first off, you know, he was a great mayor. In 1985-1983, he was the first Cuban mayor. I learned a tremendous amount from him. I am, in part, who I am because of my father. I think what makes it challenging is, you know, politics is about fundraising. It's about a variety of things. And, you know, my dad is kind of old school when it comes to that. You know, he's the kind of guy that doesn't really believe in any of that stuff. And it's understandable. I mean, he ran and went door to door back in the 80s. You know, he. Two graduate degrees from Harvard. He's written like 11 books. He's an intellectual, so he's very idealistic in that sense. I wish sometimes you were a little more pragmatic, because I think to win elections nowadays, unfortunately, you have to, you know, publicize yourself, raise money. And so I wish him the best, obviously. I. I hope that. That he comes out on top. I think he's got a shot. But there's also a possibility that it could become. Could go the other way, you know, in terms of a Republican, Democrat Dynamic.
- [08:55]
Dave Rubin
Yeah. I mean.
- [08:56]
Francis Suarez
Oh, really?
- [08:57]
Dave Rubin
You think. You think a Democrat could end up. Yes, really very possible as far as we've come. And with all the success and all the new people voting the right way.
- [09:04]
Francis Suarez
Really.
- [09:05]
Dave Rubin
Well, that's.
- [09:05]
Francis Suarez
And I think it's sad because. It is sad because, again, in a vacuum of leadership, you know, sometimes people will be left with choices that are not good. And I think, unfortunately, given a variety of circumstances, that may be what we're facing today in Miami.
- [09:24]
Dave Rubin
So let's go through some of the wins, because mostly what I talk about on the show when I'm doing domestic politics is blue cities imploding. And then I'm always saying, well, here I am in Miami where everything's great and the only thing people complain about is traffic. Maybe you can address traffic, but sure. But go through some of the wins that have happened here in the last. What is this now?
- [09:41]
Francis Suarez
It's eight years as mayor, eight years as council. So really, if you go back 16 years, when I became councilman, I inherited a broken city. We were bankrupt. And I've often said that our model for success is frankly, the same model that any state or city should implement around the world. We do three things. We do three things well. We keep taxes low, we keep people safe, and we lean into innovation. So when you. When you delve into that, keeping taxes low. So what have I done? I've lowered the tax rate, the millage rate. We don't have a state income tax, so we're already benefiting vis a vis New York City, Illinois, and California. But I lowered the millage rate, which is the rate at which we apply against our property taxes to get the property tax rate.
- [10:23]
Dave Rubin
I want to talk to you about that, too, because that's.
- [10:24]
Francis Suarez
Sure, I know that's another issue that's been talked about a lot, but we lowered it to the lowest level ever. And what happened? We saw unprecedented growth, so we grew 150% in the last 10 years. So it turns out when you create a favorable tax environment, people invest. What happens when people invest? You get more resources. You can pay your police officers better. You can deal with things like homelessness. We. We've often talked about homelessness on the show. We have the lowest homeless rate in 11 years. In our last sentence, we had 534 unsheltered homeless. We want to be the first American city to have zero. And we're quickly approaching that. We're 13% down year over year. And then, you know, we kept people safe. You know, we never got into the Defund police nonsense. We never got into the no cash bail nonsense. We're a city of laws. We're a city, a community that respects law and order. And because of that, we have probably one of the lowest homicide rates in history. So not probably. We do. So let me break that down for you. In 1946, we started recording homicides. That year we had 31. The worst year on record was 1980. I was three years old. We had 220. So from 31 to 220, the best year on record was 24 in the 1950s. Okay, we're 2024 now. Sorry, 2025 now. Last year, 2024, we had 27. So less than 1946 and almost less than our record low this year. We're at 23. And we still have, you know, a couple months to go. So we have the possibility of having the lowest year in record. So we're going to be the safest city, safest we've ever been historically, and one of the safest major cities in America. When you think about Chicago, Sometimes they've had 50 gun shootings in a weekend.
- [12:01]
Dave Rubin
We do it. It's a running joke. It's a joke in a sense, but we, on Mondays we do how many.
- [12:05]
Francis Suarez
People were shot and killed in Chicago.
- [12:07]
Dave Rubin
It's not that it's funny. It's like, it's just because you guys chose this, it's tragic.
- [12:10]
Francis Suarez
Yeah, well, when you look at, if you take out, you know, people talk about gun violence in America, this is an interesting statistic. You can do this on chat GPT. One of these guys can probably pull it up real quick. If you were. So if you were to look at gun deaths in America, where does America rank? We would rank up there, maybe top 20. Right. But if you pull out the top five or the top 10 blue cities in America, you take out their homicides, we'd go down to like 180 out of like 200 countries.
- [12:36]
Dave Rubin
Right.
- [12:37]
Francis Suarez
So we would be arguably one of the safest countries in America. So, I mean the world. So it, it's interesting that the cities that have the worst policies in my opinion, and certainly very restrictive gun policies have the highest homicide rates in all of America. Everybody in Miami has guns and we have the lowest homicide rate. So is it a gun thing or is it a social policy thing? We have the lowest unemployment in America. We have the highest median wage growth in America. We were ranked the happiest city in America and the healthiest city in America. You're happy, you're healthy. You're lucky.
- [13:09]
Dave Rubin
I'm way happier and healthier here. It's true.
- [13:11]
Francis Suarez
What are you not doing? Yeah. You're not killing anybody. Right. If you're happy, you're healthy and you're working, you're not hurting people. I mean, it's just a very basic principle.
- [13:19]
Dave Rubin
So at the, at the height of sort of the BLM and the defund, the police and all that stuff, were you under any pressure to go along with that kind of craziness?
- [13:27]
Francis Suarez
Look, I think we, what we did during that time was we let people express their First Amendment rights to protest under the condition that they not hurt anybody or not destroy any property. We had a zero tolerance policy for those things. But other than that, you know, we respect the First Amendment. We want people to have the ability to say what they want to say in the public square. And we're very, you know, we're very open about that. But that cannot cross the line. And I think once we saw, we articulated that policy during the George Floyd manifestations or demonstrations, you saw that there was no antifa here. There were none of the rabble rousers here because they knew that they weren't going to be able to create that kind of disorder that they were creating in other parts of the country. So I think as a leader, you have to set expectations, you have to be willing to make tough decisions, but you have to be clear and, you know, and open about what your expectations are. And we were, I was from the, from the get go.
- [14:27]
Dave Rubin
How much of that is also having the governor that supports your ability to do that? Meaning, you know, you know, we had the Hamas guys took over a road outside Orlando. They were up there for 12 minutes. And he loves telling people, yeah, they got it for 12 minutes and then we got them all out of there.
- [14:40]
Francis Suarez
And he helped when there were some issues on the turnpike and on the, on the expressway, which are technically Florida Highway Patrol jurisdiction. He acted very decisively and we also supported him in those things. So, yeah, I mean, it's a team effort and there's no doubt that, that having the governor, you know, act swiftly and decisively is important. You need to have, you know, the upper level elected officials supporting your, your decisions.
- [15:06]
Dave Rubin
So where are you on this property tax situation? This seems to be.
- [15:09]
Francis Suarez
Now I'm going, I'm taking my coffee here.
- [15:11]
Dave Rubin
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm going full Floridian on you because this seems to be what Desantis wants, his kind of parting gift. Yes, to Florida to be. We have record tourism where we're Bringing in plenty of money. We run slim budgets here, blah, blah, blah. But I. But it seems to me that the Republican legislature is kind of against it, which I don't fully understand. Where are you? Although you will not be mayor at the time.
- [15:34]
Francis Suarez
So this is the part that I'm a little confused about, about the initiative, and I would welcome a conversation with him about it. Happy to discuss it with him and get his perspective on this. Because the city of Miami, which has lowered the property tax rate to the lowest level ever. So which means it's. We're the leanest we've ever been. Right? We have a surplus with the lowest tax rate. You know, so we're very fiscally sound. I got the city in bankruptcy. So we took it from bankruptcy to fiscally sound. We were doge before doge existed, okay? Because we had to cut in 2009, 20% of our budget in one year because we were 20% out of balance. And I had to take on the unions to do it. And it was very painful. Right? Nobody's ever had to do that. The state's never had to do that. The federal government certainly hasn't done that. And we were the first ones and really the only ones to do that as a government. The concern I have, or the question that I have is the following. So the city of Miami generates 45% of its revenue from property taxes. Okay? 45%. So it's not a question of leanness. Right. It's a question of if we had to reduce tomorrow or eliminate tomorrow 45% of our budget, how many police officers are we going to lay off? How many firefighters are we going to lay off? Right. Or are we going to reduce their salary by 45%?
- [16:44]
Dave Rubin
So is the counter to that, that there's going to be some bump in sales tax which will mostly affect the tourists?
- [16:50]
Francis Suarez
So that. So that's the question, right? I think that part hasn't been articulated. So if. If I'm the incoming mayor, or if I were the mayor, if I had, if I could get reelected, that would be my concern, which is I can't look at my police officers in the face and tell me they take a 45% pay cut. Right. Or I can't let go of four out of 10 police officers, because that. That homicide rate that I've been focusing on is a byproduct of the fact that as We've grown this 150% over the last 10 years, we've been able to hire more officers. We want to continue to hire more because we need. Are we.
- [17:22]
Dave Rubin
Are we still getting the guys from New York coming down? And I have a feeling there's. We'll get to mom dummy in a second. And.
- [17:27]
Francis Suarez
Well, the answer is yes, and the answer is hell, yes. When Mandami gets elected. Right. That's going to be, I think, a 20, 30, maybe 40% increase in demand. Right. So if you're out there, want to buy a house, now's the time to buy that. You got two months.
- [17:43]
Dave Rubin
Yeah, trust me, my audience knows it. I mean, I mentioned that. I talked to my real estate agent all the time.
- [17:47]
Francis Suarez
He's like, it's happening. There's nothing. And there's nothing I can do about it. Right. This is not a Miami thing. This is not. You know, sometimes I would get criticized for being, you know, too wanting to sort of grow the profile of the city and it would attract people. First criticism, if you remember this, for people first. People were concerned that it was going to change the politics of the city. Right. Which went. And it.
- [18:06]
Dave Rubin
And it went because they thought you were going to bring all the left.
- [18:09]
Francis Suarez
And it actually was the opposite. It was the Republicans that were leaving those places coming over here. So Miami day, just to remind you, went, I think, 20% or 24% for Biden, plus 24. No, I'm sorry, 24% for Hillary, 8% for Biden, and then plus 10 for Donald Trump against Kamala. So it was almost a 40, 30 point swing from one to the other. So the influx of people, politically at least, was beneficial to the county and beneficial to the state. The state's now plus, I think, a million Republican voters. So the state is a solid red state. And there, I think the governor deserves a lot of credit because I think the governor really focused on registration, on ideology, on things that could drive that. That dynamic. He there. I think that's one of the biggest gifts that he gave the state, actually, was that. And then, you know, what you're seeing is, is, is, of course, now with Mandami likely getting elected, if you're Jewish and you live in New York or you're high income. Yeah. I mean, you're already paying 60% of your income in taxes. So I always joke that the government is your partner in business and you're the minority partner. Right. And you're the silent partner. So I just don't understand how this guy thinks that he can squeeze. This guy, meaning Mandami thinks that he could squeeze more money out of people without seeing a mass exodus, which is going to create what I call the Death spiral.
- [19:43]
Dave Rubin
Well, as a Cuban, I assume. I assume you actually do know the answer to that.
- [19:48]
Francis Suarez
Right. Like this is.
- [19:48]
Dave Rubin
This is basically, tragically, this is just communism 101, right? Oh, it is.
- [19:52]
Francis Suarez
It doesn't.
- [19:53]
Dave Rubin
It doesn't have to work on the balance sheet. It just has to work in their mind, basically. It's, you know, temporarily, I suppose.
- [19:59]
Francis Suarez
I've always said, Dave, that communism is the easiest sell in politics because every society is an inverted pyramid. Right. There's always less wealthy people numerically, more people that are on the lower end of the economic pyramid. And so it's very easy to tell them, look, guys, if things aren't working out, I have the answer. I'm going to use government. Government's going to be the vehicle to take more from these people. That's flatten that triangle. Right. The problem is it's the opposite of all. You know, a rising tide lifts all boats. This is a sinking tide, sinks all boats. Right. So it will literally. You know, I always joke about Fidel Castro that, you know, he said, give us all your property, give us all your businesses, and we'll make everybody equal. And he did. He made everybody equally poor, equally miserable and equally destitute. And that's what's going to happen in New York, unfortunately.
- [20:46]
Dave Rubin
Is it that sort of Cuban PTSD that we have in Miami that will always save us? I hope so, in some sense.
- [20:53]
Francis Suarez
I hope so. I think that's part of even why if a Democrat were to get elected in Miami as a mayor or a Democrat, we have a Democratic county mayor, even those people are very sensitive to the issues that Cubans and Cuban Republicans feel. And they. They toe the line very, very carefully because they know that they're one election away from being defeated if they mess around too much.
- [21:16]
Dave Rubin
What's been some of the functions of success? So, like, I know you can rattle off all this success stuff, and that's kind of easy. But what have been some of the headaches that have come along? I mean, the big thing, everyone always complains about traffic. I'm from New York.
- [21:26]
Francis Suarez
Yeah.
- [21:26]
Dave Rubin
And I lived in L. A. So to me, the traffic here is just normal traffic. But I get it. If I was here 15 years ago, there maybe was less traffic. I mean, what are some of the headaches that have come along? I don't. And what do you think we can do better in the future?
- [21:37]
Francis Suarez
Yeah. Look, I don't know that there's less traffic. I think that there's enough traffic that people. It annoys people, you know? Yeah. And I Think it's understandable. I don't think we've. We've progressed enough on mass transit. Part of the reason why is, unlike New York, which is very vertical and Manhattan, you got 8 million people in a very short envelope, small envelope. So it's very easy to move people in that envelope, although it's extremely expensive. I don't know if you know, the second line.
- [22:00]
Dave Rubin
It's going to be free. It's going to be free, my friend.
- [22:02]
Francis Suarez
Yeah, well, I'm sure. But I'm saying in terms of cost, right, to actually build it, like the Second Avenue line was $2 billion a mile. Yeah. Okay. So in Miami, since we're so horizontal, it's hard to efficiently move people because everybody loves a car. They love the freedom of the car. And so I think what I think is going to happen in the future, and I think we have to be more disruptive and more innovative in transportation. We're going to see things like the Boring company, potentially with Elon. We're going to see urban air mobility. Believe it or not, the Jetsons are coming. It's happening. It's going to happen. We're going to see autonomous vehicles that are going to redefine how we. How we move. It's. It's already amazing that you can get in your car and you know with precision what time you're going to arrive, but it's not a guesstimate anymore. You can literally say, okay, I'm three minutes late. How many times you got in? Textbook ETA eight minutes from now. You know what I mean? And, like, so, you know, with precision. And that's all private sector technology, right? That's our phone technology, micro mobility. So you have scooters, development, the way you develop buildings, you're seeing, like, Dayland is a great example. Not too far. You have these, like, little miniature cities that are walkable, where you can live, work, and play in the same ecosystem. So I think all of that's going to help. Remote work is going to help a lot of people work from home. I like to work from home, personally. I'm just more efficient. I don't have to. I don't have to travel. Right. I work out at home. I work at home, and then I don't have to go anywhere. Right? And so for me, every minute counts and every day. I'm sure it does for you. So the less I have to move, the more efficient I am, regardless of whether traffic was good or not. Right. Like having to go to an office even if there's no traffic.
- [23:37]
Dave Rubin
There's a reason we're at my house.
- [23:38]
Francis Suarez
Right, Exactly. I didn't want to say because I.
- [23:40]
Dave Rubin
Don'T know if they know.
- [23:42]
Francis Suarez
They.
- [23:42]
Dave Rubin
Okay, okay.
- [23:42]
Francis Suarez
We're your house. Right. So you're making my point. But the whole point is that even. Let's assume perfect efficiency, but you have to go distance. Let's assume perfect efficiency. Let's say you could get in the thing. There's no traffic. You still have to go from point A to point B, and that takes time to come back. Right. And you can only do a limited amount of things in the car to be efficient. Right. Like, in terms of work. So I think that phenomenon is going to help tremendously, too.
- [24:03]
Dave Rubin
All right, so if we get some of the traffic out of the way and some of the tech takes over that problem, what else do you see as the problems right now? I mean, did the import of people create any unforeseen problems for you?
- [24:13]
Francis Suarez
Yeah, I did. I think one of them that's pretty obvious is housing affordability.
- [24:17]
Dave Rubin
Yeah.
- [24:17]
Francis Suarez
Right. Prices definitely have gone up. There's no doubt about it. It makes it harder for Miami and natives to compete with people from New York that have been accustomed to a much more expensive cost of living. For them, paying, you know, a few million dollars for a house is a bargain.
- [24:32]
Dave Rubin
Yeah.
- [24:33]
Francis Suarez
For us, it's like, whoa, that's like, a big deal.
- [24:35]
Dave Rubin
And by the way, that's another argument for getting rid of property taxes, because it's the OG Floridians who are paying the price of everything. That's.
- [24:41]
Francis Suarez
Yeah. And again, I'm. Yeah. Getting rid of property taxes. My only question. It's not even.
- [24:46]
Dave Rubin
I'm going to ask DeSantis, and then we're going to send you the clip.
- [24:48]
Francis Suarez
I am 100%. Where's.
- [24:50]
Dave Rubin
Where are you? Where are the offsets? Where. Or.
- [24:52]
Francis Suarez
Or. What I think I've heard also people say is you can do it, like, for people that are Homestead as opposed to, like, renters. Again, that's probably marginal in terms of, like, the hit to a city that might only hit us 20% of our budget or 10% of our budget. I still think you got to figure out, you know, or. Or is it like, hey, just figure it out, like, on your own. You got to figure out how to do it. And I think, you know, the concern will be, again, you know what I mean? How do we pay our officers? How do we pay our firefighters? That's what I would want to know.
- [25:24]
Dave Rubin
So what can we do about the affordability issue? Because it is an issue. I mean, we still know tons of people are coming down here, so the house prices are bananas.
- [25:31]
Francis Suarez
Yeah, yeah. I think there's a few things. I think one is we can build affordable housing. Not in the old way, which was like, it looked like an insane asylum, you know, with the, you know, public housing. Right. That you see in New York and even some in Miami. We do public private partnerships. We've built. We have built about 4,000 units in my mayoralty, and we have about 2,000 in the pipeline right now, so we're building about 6,000.
- [25:53]
Dave Rubin
And how do you make sure people.
- [25:54]
Francis Suarez
Don'T get trapped there?
- [25:55]
Dave Rubin
Because that's always the thing, especially people on our side of the aisle. You hear affordable housing, and you immediately are like, all right, now we're just doing what the Democrats.
- [26:02]
Francis Suarez
There's no doubt that that's a, That's a concern. Right. Because if the idea is you're going to go there because it's inexpensive and you're not going to use it as a stepping stone to the next point of prosperity in your life, then it certainly can be a trap for you. There's no doubt about it. I think the second part is.
- [26:18]
Dave Rubin
But how do you, how do you deal with that?
- [26:19]
Francis Suarez
I mean, I, I think we have to continue to create educational opportunities for people to be able to do better. Right. I think, I think one role that government absolutely has is an education. And the, the governor will tell you that. Anybody will tell you that we are focusing a lot. We in Miami, and I have, as mayor, I've done things that nobody else has ever done. I'll tell you what we've done. Kindergarten savings accounts. So we funded savings accounts for kindergarteners and we taught them in the public schools financial literacy and their parents financial literacy so they learn how to save money so that they get out of this sort of cycle of. Of of desperation, if you will. Right. We did a tech charter school, high school with Miami Dade Community College called mia, you know, the initials of Miami, Miami Innovation Academy. So it's an Innovation tech charter school. We created two scholarships, mostly privately funded. Right. I went out there and raised the money privately. But if you're first in your family to go to college or you want to get a STEM degree and you're a Pell Grant recipient, which means you're someone of low means, we give you. We pick up the balance, we pick up the rest. So it's a scholarship from the city. Nobody's ever done that. I don't know anybody's doing that in the country to Be frank. And so we're giving people an opportunity to get out of, you know, the situation. We also do a lot of vocational training type stuff. We have coding boot camps and things like that that we've supported. I've even done initiatives for 5000 role models with bitcoin. You know, I'm big into crypto. I was actually looking at something on the. On. On Twitter the other day on X, I guess, where we had done something two years ago where we gave kids a hundred dollars of Bitcoin at $30,000.
- [27:54]
Dave Rubin
Oh, man.
- [27:55]
Francis Suarez
So now it's oh, man. Right. It's 4. 400% increase. So all those kids from predominantly, you know, underprivileged neighborhoods in our. In our community have learned about digital assets. So we. We've tried to do a lot of things that are outside the box to try to whet the appetite of ambition and not say, hey, we're going to settle for affordable housing, or that's the goal. The goal is not affordable housing. The goal is affordable housing to make sure people can. If you're a teacher, you're a doctor. I mean, if you're a teacher or nurse, you're a police officer, and you. Maybe you can't live in the city. Most. Most of them can't live in the city. Can't afford living. Maybe that's an opportunity to do that. Those are professions that are capped in terms of salary, so you need something that they can afford. But other than that, I think it's. It's educational pathways. And. And it's also creating an economy. We have the highest median wage growth, so we're bringing companies that hopefully can hire Miamians at a high level. You are here. Yeah. You have a staff. Yeah. These people were not hired before you were here. And I know because, you know, we've had an employee that worked for you. Phenomenal. Right? I mean, this is super talented people. Right. And you're giving people opportunities to work, make money, and live in this community. So thank you for that.
- [29:09]
Dave Rubin
Well, speaking of my guys.
- [29:10]
Francis Suarez
So.
- [29:10]
Dave Rubin
All right.
- [29:11]
Francis Suarez
Traffic.
- [29:11]
Dave Rubin
Okay. We talked about that. Affordability, also important to everybody in this room. Now, I got one that I know is not really under your purview, but I'm curious what your thoughts are. What is going on with our airport? It. It's the only thing in this town that everybody's like, why do we have. Why do we have the greatest city in America? I really believe that. And our airport is like, it's. It's just third rate. It's third rate.
- [29:36]
Francis Suarez
Yeah. So it's definitely not in my purview. So just for the audience perspective, it's not an.
- [29:41]
Dave Rubin
The mayor doesn't control that.
- [29:42]
Francis Suarez
I do not, unfortunately, control the airport. And if I ever ran for county mayor, and I'm not like, you know, for everyone who wants to run for county mayor, you know, don't freak out. But if I ever ran for county layer, it would almost be like a single issue campaign, like, fix the airport.
- [29:54]
Dave Rubin
Yeah.
- [29:55]
Francis Suarez
Because I agree with you. I think our airport is. It's our stepping. You know, it's our stepping stone. Right. It's our. It's our welcome map, and it's our exit map. And I think, unfortunately, it's not up to snuff on a variety of different levels. I've had extensive conversations with the airport director, who I think is a good guy. He's working hard to try to fix it. They have a $9 billion capital plan to fix it. I think if it were me, if I had my druthers, and I've talked to some county commissioners about this, I would. You have to accelerate it at this point.
- [30:28]
Dave Rubin
Yeah.
- [30:29]
Francis Suarez
And I think the acceleration. Right.
- [30:30]
Dave Rubin
Because you always see. You see little plans, you go there and they tell you we're doing this.
- [30:33]
Francis Suarez
That the acceleration has to be done with procurement. And it's just like the federal government with military spending, where we're getting killed on procurement, we're getting killed with unionized labor, but we're also getting killed with procurement, which is making it harder for us to compete with the Chinese. But in. In the airport, you've got to empower the airport director to just go out there and hire good people and get it going right away. And I think the easy wins also are. Facade. The facade. If you. Have you ever watched the movie Scarface? Ever watched the movie Scarface? Of course.
- [31:02]
Dave Rubin
I live in Miami.
- [31:03]
Francis Suarez
Exactly. So the. The facade of the airport in Scarface.
- [31:07]
Dave Rubin
Right.
- [31:07]
Francis Suarez
Is essentially identical to what it looks like today. Yeah. And we're, you know, how many years after that? Four, actually.
- [31:13]
Dave Rubin
A great point, because the rest of the movie, you can really see how Miami has changed. Even, you know, a lot of it takes place in coconut groves far from here, and it's.
- [31:19]
Francis Suarez
And south beach, too. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I think you're absolutely right. I feel your pain. I feel the pain. I feel. You know, this is interesting. I go to the airport a lot. I travel a lot, and they take really good care of me there. And the employees are phenomenal. And I, one day I kind of, you know, whisper to Them. And I said, look, guys, I don't criticize the airport because I come here so often. You guys are so good to me. They're like, no, no, no. Go ahead, do it. Do it. We want you to do it. We're not gonna get offended. And I said. Which means that even they feel like they need that support and that help, you know, publicly. So I'm glad you're here.
- [31:55]
Dave Rubin
Well, it's just a weird thing because it's such a disconnect between a place that is so explosive in every sense, and then you go to the airport and you're like this.
- [32:03]
Francis Suarez
Yeah.
- [32:04]
Dave Rubin
All right.
- [32:04]
Francis Suarez
And the thing is, too, you travel a lot.
- [32:06]
Dave Rubin
So you've seen.
- [32:06]
Francis Suarez
I know what you've seen. I've seen all these airports, even in, like, LaGuardia. I mean, no, no. Anything about. Good about here, but LaGuardia is nice, right? I mean, there's so many.
- [32:17]
Dave Rubin
You got that big waterfall. It's. I can't wait to get a waterfall.
- [32:19]
Francis Suarez
I know. It's so easy.
- [32:20]
Dave Rubin
Get on the waterfall.
- [32:22]
Francis Suarez
Just one waterfall.
- [32:23]
Dave Rubin
What are you going to miss anything about doing this? I mean, I feel like you had a pretty solid tenure, that you accomplished most of the things you want to do. I mean, are you really looking. And as I said, you. Or as you said, you're.
- [32:32]
Francis Suarez
You're a lawyer by trade.
- [32:33]
Dave Rubin
I mean, that's your daytime job. Is that. Do you know what percentage of mayors are allowed to have the outside gig?
- [32:38]
Francis Suarez
Is that so. In Miami, it's very common. So in Miami, it's about 31 of the 34 mayors work. So the mayor of Corgables is a contractor. The mayor of Dora has a business. The mayor of Miami Beach, Steve Miner, works, I think, in private equity.
- [32:52]
Dave Rubin
So it is worth noting that Miami is very sprawling. So 34. Is that what you said before?
- [32:56]
Francis Suarez
Dade County?
- [32:56]
Dave Rubin
Yeah, Dade county altogether, which everyone thinks of as Miami, but it's all.
- [33:00]
Francis Suarez
Yeah, I get the calls. Yeah, exactly.
- [33:03]
Dave Rubin
Well, the first time I met you. Because technically, you're not my mayor.
- [33:06]
Francis Suarez
Correct. Because.
- [33:07]
Dave Rubin
But I thought you were right. When I moved here, and then. And then it made sense to me, but.
- [33:10]
Francis Suarez
But I always see you in Miami.
- [33:12]
Dave Rubin
But I see you in all the. Well, you're. Well, it's funny because the. One of the first times when I moved here and I saw you in Coconut Grove.
- [33:17]
Francis Suarez
Yeah. And it was right when I had.
- [33:19]
Dave Rubin
Come from la, where everyone hated the mayor.
- [33:21]
Francis Suarez
Yeah.
- [33:21]
Dave Rubin
And you were just walking around smiling, shaking hands, kissing babies, and I was.
- [33:25]
Francis Suarez
Like, man, this is so different. I'm so blessed. I, I, I, I'll tell you this and then I'll answer your question. I've been doing this for 16 years. Eight is married, eight is council. I've never had a bad experience in public. I was, it's interesting, I was watching a video the other day going back to Mandami, where somebody was screaming at him that he was an anti Semite. Yeah, yeah.
- [33:43]
Dave Rubin
You know what I mean?
- [33:43]
Francis Suarez
And like the guy was just going.
- [33:44]
Dave Rubin
Off on him, running to the car, right?
- [33:46]
Francis Suarez
And I've never had, I mean, look, I'm not gonna win because I still have a couple months, right? But I've been very blessed. I've never had a situation like that. And in fact, it's quite the opposite. If I'm ever having a bad day, usually I'll run into somebody, he'll be like, hey, man, you're doing a great job. Keep doing it, you know, whatever. And, and it's uplifting and it's energ. Am I going to miss it? Of course there's going to be, it's going to be an adjustment for me. Since I've been in city hall for 16 years, that's a third of my life, if you count the eight years my dad was mayor. And you aggregate that to the 16 years, that's 24 of the 48 years that I've been alive. That's half my life. Yeah, in, in City hall, messing around, running around as a kid and then, and then being the mayor, being a councilman. So it's definitely going to be an adjustment. And I was actually watching, I don't know if you ever watched the movie Spy Games with Robert Redford. Such a good movie.
- [34:34]
Dave Rubin
Yeah, no, I know, it's an old classic.
- [34:36]
Francis Suarez
All right, I got a long Australia.
- [34:38]
Dave Rubin
Coming up by games.
- [34:39]
Francis Suarez
I promise you'll love it.
- [34:40]
Dave Rubin
Okay.
- [34:40]
Francis Suarez
But the whole movie's premised around his last day at the CIA. And at the end, he sort of, you know, says goodbye to his secretary as he's leaving. And I just think there's gonna be a last day and I'm gonna turn off the lights one last time and then I'm gonna walk out of the building and that's gonna be it, you know?
- [34:54]
Dave Rubin
Do you think you'll spend the rest of your days in the private sector or do you wanna get back in on the public side?
- [35:01]
Francis Suarez
You know, I'll tell you this. So first, as you, as I just said, you know, it's. Politics is hard because I have, I'm able to make a living. Yeah, right. So there are not a lot of political positions that I would want to have that I can do that. So I have to get to a place financially. I have a 7 year old and an 11 year old where, you know, hopefully money is not the predominant factor in my life, decision making wise. And when whenever that day comes, hopefully it comes sooner rather than later, I can really think about it. The one thing I can say about politics, having been around Since I was 2 years old, I did my first political commercial on my Dad's lap at 2. I looked into a camera and said, which means vote for my dad, please. The one thing I could say about politics universally is there's a lot of opportunity. There's never a shortage of opportunities. So if the bug is really with me and I really want to serve and I think I can make a contribution in the airport, whatever, Congress, Senate, I don't know, whatever you name it, ambassadorship, whatever. I would certainly consider it. I would, I would certainly consider it and you know, it would be something that I would keep. Give deep thought to because even though it's financially tough, I've never been driven by money. Money's never been the predominant motivator for me. It's really been impact and passion and so. But I'm a father and I feel a sense of responsibility. You're a father too, you know, I feel a sense of responsibility, of course, to take care of my kids and make sure that, you know, that everything's.
- [36:31]
Dave Rubin
Going to be okay.
- [36:31]
Francis Suarez
Yeah.
- [36:32]
Dave Rubin
How much of your success do you think goes back to the tweet that. That you sent to Keith Roboy during the height of the COVID 19.
- [36:39]
Francis Suarez
It was actually Zach.
- [36:41]
Dave Rubin
Oh. Who I guess works at. Works for Keith at Teal, whatever that is. But basically it was complaining about San Francisco and the tech world and everything. We'll show it. And you wrote back, how can I help? How can I help?
- [36:54]
Francis Suarez
It's a huge.
- [36:55]
Dave Rubin
And that basically blew up and that was the moment that the tech world all moved here.
- [36:59]
Francis Suarez
It's a huge part of the story in the same way that you doing this podcast has become a huge part of your story. What's the, what's the common theme. Virality of a new medium of communication, which is this sort of social media world. Right. This concept where you don't have to go through the traditional validators. Right. Mainstream media to. To make or break you. And so I think politicians don't have to kowtow as much as they used to. And it bothers the mainstream media. Oh yeah. And that's why they go on the attack in many ways. I think part of the reason why I got attacked so viciously by my local newspaper is because they saw I was getting so much national attention and then my social media was growing tremendously, so I could go direct to consumer.
- [37:45]
Dave Rubin
Yeah.
- [37:46]
Francis Suarez
And so they basically. I didn't necessarily have to deal with them if they weren't going to be fair and honest with me. And I felt like they weren't being fair and honest, so I was basically shutting them out. And they, they wanted me to pay for it, you know, and that's what they did. They built a narrative. This is who we believe he is. And then they selected facts to try to build that narrative. Right. And blow that narrative up, you know, and at some level, it worked because they. You know, my dad used to tell me, I used to remember back in the day, the saying, you don't. You don't pick fights with people who buy ink by the barrels, you know, because every single day they have the ability to put. And I think one year, the year around for president, they wrote like 70 negative articles about me in one year in one paper, you know, when the year before that they had written 12.
- [38:31]
Dave Rubin
Yeah. And our press here is pretty freaking vicious, bizarrely, for a place that's so successful, or I guess not.
- [38:37]
Francis Suarez
And, and, and, and very left of center for a place that's so, you know, center or right of center. Yeah, Right. Which I think, and I've talked to people in the, in the paper about this, you know, that, you know, I believe, and maybe I'm wrong, that at some level the media should be representative of the values of the community that it seeks to, you know, to cover. Right. In other words, you have customers, your viewers. I have clients, my residents. Right. They're my boss, and I have to serve them. I don't serve myself. I don't serve my own ideas. I serve them. Obviously, I have my own ideas, and I try to influence my ideas insofar as I think I have good ideas, and hopefully I can convince them of that. But at the end of the day, it's their decision. Ultimately.
- [39:21]
Dave Rubin
What was their worst day doing this?
- [39:25]
Francis Suarez
Oh, I don't even want to remember. You know, I definitely had. I'll put it to you this way. There were not a lot of bad days. There were not a lot of bad days. I think when you look at the totality of my tenure, both as commissioner and mayor, I used to tell my wife all the time when, when we were in the bad moments, I used to tell her, honey, you know, we've lived a pretty charmed political life. Yeah. You know, in that we haven't been attacked a lot. You know, we've been relatively free of any sort of, you know, anyone accusing me of anything. And then all of a sudden, from one day to the next, I became, you know, according to these people, you know, some bad guy. Obviously. Nothing ever. I never got. I've never had one, thank God, ethics complaint ever sustained against me. I've never had anything happen to me in that. But.
- [40:11]
Dave Rubin
But even natural disasters, I mean, we. We skirted that because this state's been hit a lot on the other coast. And we had one.
- [40:17]
Francis Suarez
We had one when I was coming into the mayoralty. We had Hurricane Irma. Yeah. Which was really. Which was pretty bad. And I actually credit the fact that I was very present as a commissioner. This was at the end of my tenure, and it was almost the opposite of this. This election. When I. When I ran for mayor, I was the only candidate, basically, I had basically pushed out the field. And it was like, we're here, you have. You're struggling to find a good candidate. It was like, here we had only one good candidate. And I don't know if that's good or bad, but I got elected by 85% and then I got reelected by almost 80%. So for me, it was good because it gave me a lot of confidence that the people were giving me a strong mandate to lead. And I made mistakes. Right. Like I tried to implement a strong mayor and it failed. You know, recently there was an effort by my council that I supported to change the election year from an odd year to an even year. And it was successful at the council. And we had based that on a state law that other cities had availed themselves of. For other cities, it had been challenged in another city, and the appellate court in that case had. Had supported the city's right to do it. So we thought we were on very safe constitutional and legal grounds. And one of the candidates sued us and won and overturned it.
- [41:32]
Dave Rubin
What was the reasoning for wanting it done in the first place? It was just to line things up with the calendar.
- [41:37]
Francis Suarez
Yeah. So the state law, which was passed by a state. Right, articulates basically two reasons. One is you align the elections with governor and presidential races. So you go from elections that you're going to see in this election, 15% turn right.
- [41:50]
Dave Rubin
It's going to be nothing.
- [41:51]
Francis Suarez
And to 70% turnout election. So you have a much more engaged electorate with a broader cross section of the population. Picking people. So presumably they'll make better choices, right, because they're more plugged in and they're bigger. Secondly, from a financial perspective, we have to, we have to finance our own elections since they're on off cycle years. So they cost over a million dollars. So we're going to save over a million dollars every year for infinity, you know, so that's tens if not hundreds of million dollars in savings for the city. Plus we align with, with, with state elections and presidential elections which are much, much higher turn on elections. So that was the, that was the rationale. There was a state law that said that you could do it and you know, the, unfortunately the judges disagreed, which is, that's what, we live in a country of laws. You know, you just follow the law and that's it. No big deal. So what was the.
- [42:39]
Dave Rubin
So, all right, so the worst day, basically you don't have one. I mean there were some tough times, but. All right, what about, what about best day?
- [42:46]
Francis Suarez
Wow. We had, I remember when we passed the Inter Miami deal to bring the Inter team to Miami when they got Leo Messi. That was a great day. I have to say, being in the Oval Office for the announcement of the G20 was a pretty amazing day. And it was funny, a funny day because the President's a funny guy and he's such an engaging guy. And so we get there and he looks at me, this is the beginning of the press conference and he literally looks at me and he goes, and he, I'm, I'm to his left. So he goes, you could have been here. And then he says, it's not as easy as it looks. Yeah. I said, you're right, Mr. President, I understand. I completely agree. So that was a pretty special day, you know. And so it's been a lot of victories, a lot of good days. But the defeats are also good. They're important. I think you learn more from the defeats. The pain, pain is a, is a, is a, is a tool, right, of a learning lesson, learning tool. And, and I think as you get older, and I don't want to speak for you, but as you get older, I think, you know, you learn that, that defeat or, or, or losing or, or having a diff, you know, setback, it's temporary, you know what I mean? It's temporary and, and it does get you stronger, sharper, avoid mistakes in the future. It stays with you. Whereas a victory, you know what I mean? You're like, okay, what's the next one coming? You know what I mean? And so, but yeah, we've had some, some fun times.
- [44:19]
Dave Rubin
How does it feel to be kind of wrapping it down then, in that mind? I mean, you've got staff members that have been with you for a long time that gotta go do other things. And I'm guessing you, you're probably losing people. Just. We are in the course of wrapping things up because they know they, it's. There's an end date.
- [44:34]
Francis Suarez
Yeah. It's actually funny. My social media team's down to 1%. All our social media has left, which is tough because you communicate. I mean, that's like one of your main vehicles of communication. And by the way, I think I've.
- [44:46]
Dave Rubin
Said it once on air, but Adi, who is my former chief of staff, who's now moved on, and she's doing her own thing, we got her from you. She was still working for you at the time. And I called you because I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to do anything under the table. And you immediately were like, it's a great opportunity for her. Go. Go get it. Great. It's amazing.
- [45:02]
Francis Suarez
That's my philosophy of leadership, and I've always encouraged my staff members to do bigger and better things. Government is not the end. Right. And it actually, to me, the way I view it, is. It's a benefit to me because now I have someone in your organization that I can rely on to communicate with you or, you know, I've had people that, I've gone to these incredible organizations, and now I can tap into them for the benefit of the city. And I've done that a bunch of times. So. And I think it's a credit. It actually helps you recruit, too, because you can, you can show people like, hey, this is a stepping stone to, to Dave Rubin. This is a stepping stone to X or Y or Z. And so it is a great recruiting tool, too. It's been, at least for me.
- [45:44]
Dave Rubin
But is it, is it a generally bittersweet feeling at the moment?
- [45:48]
Francis Suarez
Yeah, I mean, I, I, I, you know, I try not to think about it too much. I'm focused a lot right now on this conference that I'm doing in November, America Business Forum, November 5th and 6th. We have the president speaking there, so it's exciting that he's doing all these things and then he's gonna be coming to the conference. We have Leo Messi speaking at the conference, Jamie Dimon.
- [46:06]
Dave Rubin
All right, all right, I'm gonna swing by.
- [46:08]
Francis Suarez
Okay, you're coming, you're coming. So buy your tickets. Okay. They're very Very inexpensive. I think they're like a hundred dollars in the upper level and 200 on the lower level for two day conference. So. With some of the most amazing speakers. But I've been focusing a lot on that. That's kept me very busy, kept me very focused so that I'm not overthinking about the last day, you know, traveling a little bit and, and trying to enjoy it. You know, I'm trying to enjoy it as much as possible. Take it in day in and day out. Understand that all good things come to an end and there will be a day where I have to turn off the lights and move on to the next section of my life, which I'm happy about.
- [46:45]
Dave Rubin
I think we've done it all here, right?
- [46:47]
Francis Suarez
We have done it all.
- [46:48]
Dave Rubin
We've kind of done it all like the city. Regardless of what happens with this election, it feels to me like the city is in good shape. I need to research the candidates a little more. There's a Suarez involved. But, you know, we've. We've done something. And I mean we. I really do mean it.
- [47:02]
Francis Suarez
It is.
- [47:02]
Dave Rubin
You can feel it in Florida. People really do have a feeling like we are invested in what's going on here. So it's a beautiful thing.
- [47:08]
Francis Suarez
You know, the charter calls me the chief executive officer, but I've often thought of myself as the chief ecosystem officer. And I think when you say we, it's. It is we. It's the ecosystem that is us. I can only be as successful as you are, and we can only be as successful as we both are. And, you know, you've got to be able to pick up the phone and say, hey, man, I need you for this. And I've got to be able to say yes and follow through and vice versa. So I do think it's been a wee thing as greater Miamians have come here as our Miamians have stayed, because a big, a big issue is, I call it the boomerang effect. We've had a lot of Miamians come back, you know, Miamians that were in Boston, if you were in, you know, if you're in biotech, or New York if you're in finance, or DC if you're in politics, or, you know, California if you're in tech, come back to Miami. So we've had a big boomerang of. And I've had parents all over the place tell me, we're so grateful to you because you made it possible for my child to come back home.
- [48:03]
Dave Rubin
Yeah.
- [48:04]
Francis Suarez
So that's been a big part of the story.
- [48:05]
Dave Rubin
But now we got these snowbirds who won't leave. I mean, we're getting a lot of Canadians who I'm pretty sure are doing something illegal here because they just don't want to go back anymore.
- [48:12]
Francis Suarez
We're getting them from everywhere, my friend. Thank you. It's great, man. Great to be with you.