Republican presidential candidate and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez was apparently unaware of the oppressed Uyghur ethnic minority group in China during an interview Tuesday.
Radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Suarez in an interview if the Miami mayor would be talking about the Uyghurs during his campaign.
“The what?” Suarez asked.
“The Uyghurs,” Hewitt said.
“What’s a Uyghur?” Suarez asked again, before Hewitt replied, “OK, we’ll come back to that. You gotta get smart on that.”
The Uyghurs, who live in the Xinjiang province of China, are a Turkic-speaking, predominantly Muslim ethnic group. The United States has accused China of committing mass human rights abuses and even genocide against them.
The conservative talk show host noted the “blind spot” by Suarez in a tweet following their conversation.
“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,” Hewitt wrote.
Suarez sought to clarify his comments following the interview and asserted that he did know about the predominantly Muslim ethic group in China but was tripped up on the pronunciation of the group’s name.
“Of course, I am well aware of the suffering of the Uyghurs in China. They are being enslaved because of their faith. China has a deplorable record on human rights and all people of faith suffer there,” Suarez said in a statement. “I didn’t recognize the pronunciation my friend Hugh Hewitt used. That’s on me.”
Suarez announced his bid for the White House earlier this month. The Miami mayor is the third Florida Republican to enter the race but is viewed as a long shot and starts off with little national name recognition.
The Hill has reached out to Suarez’s campaign for comment.