SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez publicly kicked off his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination with a speech Thursday evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.
Suarez, a 45-year-old attorney and private-equity executive, gave his first public address since he filed paperwork to run for president Wednesday afternoon, a soft launch of a White House bid he’s teased for more than a year amid publicity over his promotion of Miami as a tech hub and, more recently, controversy over an FBI investigation into his private consulting work for a developer who needed help with a city permit.
From the palatial Reagan Library nestled atop a hill overlooking the Simi Valley, Suarez stood on a stage under the plane that served as Reagan’s Air Force One as he told hundreds gathered that his vision for America is defined not by what he opposes, but by what he is for.
