GOP presidential candidate stumped by question about Uighurs: 'What's a Uighur?' | The Independent
By: Abe Asher (The Independent)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez revealed he doesn't know who the Uighurs are in an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Suarez, who launched his campaign for the Republican nomination for President earlier this month, is a longshot candidate in the crowded Republican primary field. Audio clips like the ones he produced in his interview with Hewitt are unlikely to help his odds.
"Penultimate question, Mayor: will you be talking about the Uighurs in your campaign?" Hewitt asked after Mr. Suarez had criticized the Biden administration's China policy.
"The what?" Mr. Suarez responded.
"The Uighurs," Hewitt repeated.
"What's a Uighur?" Mr. Suarez said.
"Okay, we'll come back to that," Mr. Hewitt said. "You've got to get smart on that."
Several hours after the interview, Mr. Suarez said he "didn't recognize the pronunciation" of Uighur that Hewitt used in the interview.
The Uighurs are an ethnic group native to the Xinjiang region of northwest China. They are officially recognized as one of China's ethnic minorities, with the vast majority of the population practicing Islam and living in the Tamir Basin. For much of the last decade, the Uighur population has reportedly been subjected to grievous human rights abuses by the Chinese government including mass internment, forced labor and sterilization, and re-education.
Organizations like Human Rights Watch have decried the Chinese government's abuse of the Uighur population, which some experts believe amounts to genocide or crimes against humanity. The situation has been among the worst human rights crises of the last ten years.
But for whatever reason, Mr Suarez did not seem to understand what Hewitt was talking about when their conversation turned to the Uighurs' plight. Before concluding his interview with Hewitt, Mr Suarez voluntarily returned the conversation to his lack of knowledge about the Uighurs.
"You gave me homework, Hugh," Mr Suarez said. "I'll look at what a — what'd you call it, a Weeble?"
Hewitt was not impressed.
"The Uighurs," he said. "You really need to know about the Uighurs, Mayor. You've got to talk about it every single day, okay?"
"I will search Uighurs," Mr Suarez replied. "I'm a good learner, I'm a fast learner."
Mr. Suarez's unfamiliarity with the Uighurs was particularly striking given that he had spent an earlier portion of the interview bashing the Biden administration for supposedly failing to develop a strategy to stand up to an "increasingly hostile" China.
Mr. Suarez, who also criticized Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to China last week, said members of the Biden administration "have very little, if any, practical understanding of the real world."
Mr. Suarez is one of three Republican presidential candidates from Florida, including former President Donald Trump and Gov Ron DeSantis. Two weeks ago, Mr. Suarez was present in Miami as Mr. Trump was indicted at the city's federal courthouse for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
Trolling, taunting, spamming, and off topic comments may be removed at the discretion of group mods. NT members that vote up their own comments, repeat comments, or continue to disrupt the conversation risk having all of their comments deleted. Please remember to quote the person(s) to whom you are replying to preserve continuity of this seed. Any use of the phrase "Trump Derangement Syndrome" or the TDS acronym in a comment will be deleted.
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The mayor of Miami is mostly a ceremonial role as can be seen by this lack of knowledge on China.
If you going to attack the administration over China you should actually know something about China.
I don't see him getting much if any support in his presidential bid.
As a former Editor-in-Chief of my university newspaper, and wise to the tricks of the trade, I LOVE it when I see the words "reportedly" and "some experts believe" being used.
Well some experts believe that he will not be the Republican nominee for President.
LOL. Well it sure as hell doesn't take an expert to realize that.
I heard that, after the interview, he went straight to Dictionary.com and looked up "weegers". Finding nothing, he and his base now believe that the weegers are just another made up, fake demographic like the notsees.
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Obama was referring to the fifty seven states and territories that have Presidential primaries.
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He was and you would lose that bet...
I bet that you don't know how to make an on topic comment.
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He probably can't name the capital of Florida.
Disney World?
Rest of thread cleaned up for no value.
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No, he really doesn’t. I’m not going to say the Uighurs don’t matter or anything, but the reality is that to anyone who might vote for this guy, Uighurs are going to rank around 900th on their list of priorities. I would guess that less than 1% of likely voters would consider Uighur policy to be so important that they think a presidential candidate should be talking about it every day.
He chose to attack the current administration on their lack of policy towards China. If you're a Presidential canadite and attack the opposition it would be a good idea to know a little something about the country in question. He didn't and looked the fool, especially after his lame comment after the interview of ''I didn't understand the word they way the host said it''....
The "Uighurs" is something of a gotcha question . I would guess that 95% of Americans know next to nothing, or nothing, about the Uighurs. It is not an issue people will vote on.
If Americans dont care about a migrant boat sinking and 700 people drowning, they are not going to care about a persecuted minority group in China.
I don't see it as a gotcha question at all. It was a very friendly interview and the mayor was sounding off about the Biden administration lack of policy towards China, it would be best if your going to do that then you should know a little about China/policies etc. He didn't and then tried to cover his ass later by saying that he didn't understand the word the way the host pronounced it. That is lame as hell after what he said live on the show.
Maybe a nation's lawmakers and potential lawmakers should fix their own wagon before trying to deflect personal responsibility by criticizing someone else's.
Sadly for you, we enjoy free speech in the US. So he can pretty much say what he feels.
Why would I be sad that you enjoy free speech? You enjoy free speech and I enjoy freedom from gun violence. Chacun a son gout.
You seem to be upset that the Uighurs and their treatment by China is mentioned.
Well, freedom from gun violence is an imaginary gift since there is certainly gun violence in China. Try free speech and watch the government's response.
Tiananmen Square.
You bring up history? Now there are at least TWO NT members who relish doing that. The internment of the loyal American Japanese during WW2 is history, but Gitmo isn't history,. You like to post a picture of history? Here's a picture of Ameican history - now how do YOU feel?...
Here ya go...
[deleted] You can't handle anything that is mentioned about China/Uhigars. I usually don't have much to say about it but it was part of the article, if you can't take the heat stay the fuck out of the kitchen.
Yes, it is an ugly part of American history but it is history and I'm not having a meltdown over it. You should try to see things in perspective.
The situation with the Uighers is something the entire international community needs to confront China on, but that will not happen. The CCP knows they can sweep it under the rug and give flimsy excuses on it. Mr Suarez should have had a handle on knowing about that as a foreign relations issue. Seems he was not very well briefed in advance.
That is especially true if you are going to attack the current policies in place re China. He should have had at the very least known who the Uighurs are and their situation in China. A totally self-inflicted wound.
"A totally self-inflicted wound."
Yep, very much so.
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Unfortunately I'm saddled with the ability to comprehend that there could be more than one side to a story. I consider that to be seeing things in perspective.
What a maroon.
He looked the fool.
Don't blame Suarez for this at all. When he finds out more about them and what his response would be is the only issue.
Besides, nearly half the country believes that an 'Orange Peel' is, "A really smart guy."
That is one way to look at it, IMO if one is going to attack the current administration policy on China it would be best to have at least a bit of knowledge on what is happening in China.
And of course what 'the administration's' policy really is-----------and why it is what it is. There is that too.
BINGO!!!
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That wouldn't have happened if the original comment that started this BS was on topic.
Don't like the moderation, don't post on the article. I would think that Cheeseheads could figure out something that simple, guess not.
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Not sensitive at all, Sean. You, on the other hand, seem to have a problem staying on topic. Could be ADHD.
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The moderation that your not happy with is there because of off topic/derailment comments. It's simple stick with the article and it premise or don't comment. It's not that hard.
Is Vic back?
On this seed?
Nah. He went to Belarus.
Something that you use, Gregg?
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If you read the comments and understand them you'd know that the only people butt hurt on here would be whiners and trolls which you've shown to be the MO of off-topic commentators.
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The ones that seem to be chaffed are the ones off topic and getting deleted.
That you think you upset us is comical.
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Well you seem to be...
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Ah, thank you for that lame explanation and I do agree there is a lot of extreme chafing from the off-topic commentators and you know who they are. Good of you to point out that. So it looks like perhaps, just perhaps you are not all hat and no cattle.
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You could comment on the article instead of whining, George.
Give it a try you might actually enjoy being on topic.
Additionally posting the same comment five times is rather childish.
Cheeseheads and whine.
Yep, sounds about right.
that is usually all they have
Not one right wing commentator has said anything about the actual article...
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That is generally par for the course for them, debating or commenting on the actual content of an article is way above their pay grade.
An article about a mayor who won’t be a nominee?
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George, the first thing that you should do is not be a partisan hack which you have shown to be your MO. Other than that he is the mayor of Miami and his entry into the presidential race to us in Florida it's newsworthy. So yes, it was a very dumb thing for him to say, good to know that you are on board with that analysis.
As for compensating for a lack of education. It's true, George I never finished the 11th grade, but even lacking formal education my ability to discuss a number of subjects and stay on topic without trolling seems to far exceed anything that you've been able to muster in that regard. Perhaps you wasted a lot of money on an education that simply didn't stick.
Bless your heart and try harder, George.
A side note, he almost has a mobster look to him.
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Kavika, you are one of the most knowledgeable and intelligent people I have ever known with a deep understanding of a range of topics based on your vast experience, unlike some of the blithering idiots who show up on here with IQs in the single digits.
He is also a world traveler.
Yes, he is. I think he has been to more places in the world than anyone else I know, and I know people who have really traveled a lot.
Thank you so much, but as can be seen from anyone reading the comments you have lost whatever credibility you had to a 10th grade graduate, sad commentary on someone that considers himself to be somewhat intelligent.
Once again, try harder George, a mind is a sad thing to waste.
Thank you, G.
Well, the world does need blithering idiots with single-digit IQs, they are either cannon fodder, trolls or at best dredges of society. In this particular case probably all three.
Thanks, Ender.
I consider travel especially foreign travel to be the best education in the world.
It is. I am jealous of all the places you have been. My brother is like you in that regard.
Let out a secret, I never graduated high school either. I lie and tell everyone I did. Haha
I've traveled to places all over the world, but looking at where Kavika has been, it's almost like I've never left home!
Good one, Ender.
As always it's not book learning but learning from experience is the best education.
My brother is the only one I know that could give him a run for his money. Vietnam, China, most of Europe, Australian, a lot more than I can list.
I am worse than most people. I actually never graduated the 9th grade. Did that twice.
The reason I was sent to MS is because I could not be in school at a younger age.
So yeah, I am actually a dummy... Haha
Absolutely! My dad made it thru 12th grade but got pissed off about something and quit before graduation. He was, however, one of the smartest men I knew. He could design things and have someone build it for him or do it himself. He also read a lot.
You and Ender are some of my favorite people here and I think the both of you are much smarter than some others I could (but won't) name.
Evening Ender...what did we let your brother a tourist get away!!! Hmm damn slack sharks and crocs...will have to talk them... can't have that happening to often... it will ruin our reputation...🦘🐨🦈🐊
A man after my own heart.
I've been to Vietnam, China, many countries in Europe (some more than once), Australia, Tonga, the Cooks Islands, American Samoa, Japan, other parts of Asia, but my list doesn't even begin to compare with Kavika's and probably your brother's. There is still a whole lot more to see.
That's pretty obvious.
I agree 100%.
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It’s all they got ….
Not at all but feel free to believe your own imagination.
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If you have not noticed how angry, toxic and bitter far rightwing comments are as compared with everyone else you should not be whining about off topic meta...
If you would stay on topic. And then again if you don't like the moderation you know what you can do.
And I sure would appreciate no snark from you
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I’ve noticed it but most of it is
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Kav has been trying to get you all back on topic but all of you continue to post off topic comments and then have the nerve to complain about the moderating. If we;re posting meta it's in response to yours.
And that last line was totally unnecessary. Is there ever a time you could respond to me without being snarky or nasty?
They all project, deflect, and deny and then get all pissy when called on it.
Piss all over decent people's articles time and time again.
I bet not.
You have me confused with someone else. Look again.
bullshit!
But please have the last goddamed word since it's so fucking important to you
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Surprising that he doesn't apply that to the right side....I believe most politicians (on both sides) "have very little, if any, practical understanding of the real world."
You are absolutely correct.
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[IF YOU WOULD JUST STOP COMMENTING YOU WOULDN'T GET DELETED]
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It is obvious that a group of posters have nothing to add but to troll/off-topic/deflect comments. That is the reason that I post the Red Box rules and will continue to do so as long as this type of BS continues.
If you don't like the moderation or the rules then move along and don't comment.