Former Miami mayor: People like to see leaders in action

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:02]E AREA.

[00:00:03]AISHAH, BACK TO YOU.

[00:00:03]>> Aishah: THANK YOU LET'S BRING IN FRANCES JUAREZ, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR AND FORMER MAYOR OF MIAMI.

[00:00:10]MAYOR, GREAT TO HAVE YOU.

[00:00:11]I WANT TO GET TO THE CRIME BUT I WANT TO GO BACK TO WHAT BILLY BUSH WAS TALKING ABOUT IN THE PALISADES FIRE.

[00:00:17]THE NATURAL DISASTER WHICH IS MOTIVATING A LOT OF PEOPLE TO GET OUT AND VOTE FOR SPENCER PRATT.

[00:00:24]MIAMI IS NOT IMMUNE TO NATURAL DISASTERS.

[00:00:27]FLORIDA GETS HIT BY HURRICANES ALL THE TIME.

[00:00:31]ALMOST ANNUALLY AND DOES A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF TAKING CARE OF RESIDENTS.

[00:00:35]WHAT DO YOU THINK KAREN BASS GOT WRONG WITH THE PALISADES FIRE?

[00:00:39]I KNOW YOU CAN LIST A NUMBER OF THINGS PREPARED WHAT DO YOU THINK WENT WRONG AND HOW MUCH CAN A NATURAL DISASTER REALLY MOTIVATE PEOPLE WHO WOULDN'T NORMALLY COME OUT FOR A PRIMARY?

[00:00:53]>> IT'S INCREDIBLY MOTIVATING.

[00:00:55]I REMEMBER WHEN I RAN FOR MAYOR IN 2017 I HAD HURRICANE IRMA WHICH WAS LITERALLY IN AUGUST OF THE YEAR OF THE ELECTION IN THE SAME ELECTORAL YEAR AND I WAS ELECTED BY 85% AND I WAS A COUNCILMAN THERE WHEN YOU DEMONSTRATE LEADERSHIP, WHEN YOU HAVE PREPARED WHICH APPEARS SHE WASN'T PREPARED.

[00:01:16]MAKING BAD EXECUTIVE DECISIONS LEADING UP TO THE EMERGENCY THEN WHEN YOU ARE NOT THERE AND PRESENT AND WORKING TO HELP THE PEOPLE.

[00:01:24]I WAS LITERALLY BUZZ SAWING TREES AND WADING THROUGH WATER MAKING SURE PEOPLE COULD GET TO THEIR HOMES THREE PEOPLE LIKE TO SEE LEADERS IN ACTION AND WHEN THEY SEE THEM IN ACTION THEY REWARD THEM BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH THEY'RE GOING TO BE THERE.

[00:01:40]WHEN TIMES ARE BETTER THEY CAN HAVE A GREAT ACTION PLAN TO MAKE THINGS EVEN BETTER THAN WHAT THEY ARE.

[00:01:46]IN MY CASE IT WORKED OUT TREMENDOUSLY WHILE I WAS ELECTED BY 85%.

[00:01:51]>> Aishah: THE OTHER PART OF COURSE IS THE HOMELESSNESS SURPRISES THAT WE ALWAYS SEE IMAGES OF.

[00:02:00]I CAN'T THINK ABOUT LA AND NOT THINK ABOUT SKID ROW AND THINK ABOUT THE PEOPLE SHOOTING UPWARD REPORTS PEOPLE ARE USING PETS AND DOGS TO TEST FENTANYL, TO TEST WHATEVER DRUG OF CHOICE TO MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T KILL THEM HERE THEY WANT TO TEST IT ON THEIR PETS.

[00:02:17]THIS IS NEAR KAREN BASS ON BEING OPTIMISTIC ABOUT HOW WELL SHE THINKS SHE'S DONE.

[00:02:27]>> YOU SEE A HOMELESS PERSON HERE, THERE ON THE BOULEVARD BUT YOU DO NOT SEE THE BIG ENCAMPMENTS.

[00:02:35]I'M VERY, VERY HAPPY WE HAVE GOTTEN THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE OFF THE STREET OVER THESE LAST FEW YEARS AND NOT JUST MOVED THEM FROM ONE NEIGHBORHOOD TO THE NEXT BUT GOT THEM OFF THE STREET INTO HOUSING.

[00:02:47]>> Aishah: GIVE ME YOUR REACTION.

[00:02:52]>> IT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ACCURATE, THAT'S MY REACTION.

[00:02:56]PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN L.A. OR VISIT LA, THE AMOUNT OF HOMELESSNESS AND IT'S ONE INDICATION OF HOW A CITY IS TAKING CARE OF ITS MOST VULNERABLE.

[00:03:06]IN OUR CITY WE HAVE 560 SOME UNSHELTERED HOMELESS.

[00:03:11]AS OF THE LAST CENSUS.

[00:03:13]IN THE LARGEST CITY IN A LARGE COUNTY.

[00:03:18]IT'S ONE OF THE INDICATIONS ALONG WITH CRIME, VIOLENT CRIME WHICH ARE INDICATORS OF HOW WELL A MAYOR IS PERFORMING OR NOT.

[00:03:26]WHEN YOU CONSIDER WHAT SPENCER PRATT IS DOING IN HIS CAMPAIGN, HE'S APPEALING TO MOMS.

[00:03:31]HE KEEPS SAYING I'M APPEALING TO MOMS WHO ARE FOCUSED ON THESE KITCHEN TABLE ISSUES SUCH AS CRIME AND HOMELESSNESS WHICH DEMONSTRATE HOW A MAYOR IS TAKING CARE OR NOT OF THEIR CITY.

[00:03:43]>> Aishah: CRIME IS A MOTIVATING FACTOR FOR A LOT OF VOTERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ESPECIALLY IN LA.

[00:03:48]WE DUG INTO THE CRIME STATS BETWEEN LA AND MIAMI.

[00:03:52]WE ARE NOT GOING TO SHOW YOU THE EXACT NUMBERS BECAUSE THERE'S A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE POPULATIONS OF LA AND MIAMI.

[00:03:59]THESE ARE THE TRENDS.

[00:04:01]TRENDS CAN BE COMPARED.

[00:04:05]IN LOS ANGELES HOMICIDES ARE DOWN 24% BUT RAPE IS UP ABOUT 6% PER AGGRAVATED ASSAULT IS UP A PERCENT.

[00:04:12]CRIME IS DOWN 12%.

[00:04:14]IN MIAMI HOMICIDE IS DOWN 37%.

[00:04:17]A LOT MORE THAN 24% IN LOS ANGELES.

[00:04:20]VIOLENT CRIME IS DOWN 23%.

[00:04:22]SHOOTINGS ARE DOWN 29%.

[00:04:25]HOW COME MIAMI HAS DONE A BETTER JOB THAN LA IN BRINGING CRIME DOWN?

[00:04:30]THERE IS CRIME IN BOTH CITIES BUT BRINGING IT DOWN FROM BRINGING THOSE TRENDS DOWN.

[00:04:36]>> IT'S VERY SIMPLE.

[00:04:38]WE PROTECT AND SUPPORT OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT.

[00:04:41]WE NEVER GOT INTO THIS DEFUND THE POLICE NONSENSE.

[00:04:46]NO CASH BAIL NONSENSE THAT WE SAW ACROSS A LOT OF BLUE CITIES.

[00:04:50]WE UPHELD THE LAW.

[00:04:52]WE HOLD OURSELVES ACCOUNTABLE FOR NOT JUST COMMITTED CRIMES BUT MAKING SURE POLICE OFFICERS WERE WELL FUNDED, WELL PAID AND HAD THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY.

[00:05:03]THEY COULD EFFECTIVELY DO THEIR JOBS.

[00:05:05]WHAT WE SAW IN MIAMI.

[00:05:07]I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S FOR THE LAST YEAR OR THE STATISTICS THAT YOU SHOWED BUT THE TREND HAS BEEN CONSISTENT YEAR OVER YEAR FOR ALMOST A DECADE.

[00:05:14]TO GIVE YOU SOME CONTEXT THE WORST YEAR IN THE HISTORY OF MIAMI WAS 220 MURDERS.

[00:05:19]LAST YEAR WE HAD 27.

[00:05:21]THE LOWEST EVER ON RECORD WAS IN 1950 AND WE HAD 24.

[00:05:26]WE ALMOST BEAT THE LOWEST EVER LAST YEAR.

[00:05:30]>> Aishah: THOSE NUMBERS WERE YEAR TO DATE.

[00:05:33]THANK YOU FOR PUTTING YOUR MAYOR'S HAT ON AS WE HEAD INTO PRIMARY EVENING.

[00:05:39]CAN'T WA