INTERVIEW: Miami Mayoral candidate Emilio González on the dangers of electing socialists from coast to coast

In the wake of several socialist wins from New York City to Seattle, GOP mayoral candidate for Miami Emilio González is fighting against further encroachments of socialism in America.

“There has been nowhere in the world where socialism works, nowhere, and, in fact, everywhere in the world, socialism has killed over 100 million people,” González told the Washington Reporter in an interview. Socialism sounds enticing, he noted, but “it becomes almost a predator state, the government against its people.”

González, who was born in Cuba, thinks campaigns like his are “about a national movement by the left to capture, yet again, another major U.S. city, except this time it’s in the president’s home state.”

Florida is the future home of President Donald Trump’s presidential library; Democrats understand this, González said, and are trying to elect the first Democrat to run Miami in this millennium. “This is an opportunity to stick it to the president; if you can take the president’s signature city, that just emboldens them to go to other places and get someone to roll.”

Following elections in states like New Jersey, in which Democrats regained major ground with Hispanic voters, González acknowledged the importance of winning those voters back to the GOP.

“Hispanic concerns are our concerns,” he said. “They want good schools for their kids, they worry about crime, they worry about unemployment, they worry about the border. These are all issues that are tailor made for us.”

One big difference between González and his opponent is his stance on crime. As the former city manager of Miami, González oversaw the city’s police department and understands what supporting police can do for a community.

“I want to make sure that our police department is taken care of, that they are well equipped, that they’re well paid. Same thing with our fire department,” he said. His opponent also favors cashless bail, an idea González said “doesn’t have a lot of friends [in Miami].”

González’s opponent Eileen Higgins credits an anti-death penalty rally hosted by the Unabomber’s brother as her political inspiration. As the Floridian Press reported, Higgins’s awakening “came during her 30s in New York City, when she attended an anti–death penalty event hosted by the Unabomber’s brother, who advocated against capital punishment for violent offenders. Higgins told the publication that the event ‘clicked’ for her — a moment that shaped her emotional and philosophical approach to criminal justice.”

Higgins “is a product of the mainstream media. She is a product of the more radical trade unions. She is a product of the current Democratic leadership, if you will. They see a huge opportunity here. This is garnering a great deal of attention nationwide, not because of me, but because of her,” González said.

As the former director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under former President George W. Bush, González also knows how important border security is for cities like Miami. “Our immigration system collapsed [under Biden]. Our legal immigration system collapsed. It’s something that every city and every state became a border city and border state,” he said.

González, who spent decades in the U.S. military, explained to the Reporter why he supports Trump’s posturing in Latin America, especially when it comes to the administration’s drone strikes on drug boats.

“We’ve known about this [problem] for years, but no government has ever wanted to step up and do this, and President Trump is doing it, and he’s protecting the American public from all of these drug traffickers. “It’s about time,” he added, “that we’re reasserting our presence, we’re reasserting the importance of this region, and we’re reasserting our national security, all that plays into what you’re seeing and reading about now.”

González’s vision is simple: “I want to be a good mayor. I want to take care of our city. I want to promote our city. I want our residents to have a good quality of life.”

Below is a transcript of our interview with Emilio González, lightly edited for clarity.

Washington Reporter:

What is your message to voters in New York City and in Seattle who just elected socialists to be their next mayors?

Emilio González:

The thing about socialism is that people don’t see it coming. It sounds great. We should have free transportation, free housing, free education, free this and free that, and it sounds very nice, until they get in power, and then all of a sudden, everything changes. Yes, it’s free, but for a very limited few, and don’t opine, because we don’t care what you have to say. It becomes almost a predator state; the government against its residents, but the launch is always very benign. Nice, sweet people that look very disarming, who could pass as somebody’s librarian, or they could pass as a college professor, and they’re filling people’s heads with all sorts of rosy pictures of how much better things would be if they were elected. And then once they’re in the door, the door is slammed shut behind them.

Washington Reporter:

You’re running for mayor of Miami, but you just got endorsed by President Trump. Ted Cruz — the son of Cuban immigrants — endorsed you. Every Republican in Florida has endorsed you. There are national implications to your race; tell us what this race means to people outside of Miami.

Emilio González:

What’s happening is that, at least the Democrats understand that Florida is the president’s home state, that Miami is the state’s signature city, and they would love nothing better than to just stick it to the president. It’s also the place where the president will eventually place his presidential library. It’s galvanized just about every leftist group across the United States. This is an opportunity to stick it to the president; if you can take the president’s signature city, that just emboldens them to go to other places and get someone to roll. They just came off of huge victories in New Jersey and Virginia and New York City. They also just picked up a socialist mayor in Seattle. And now there’s an opportunity, or at least they see an opportunity, in Miami, and they’re all in. What I need to do is galvanize our side of the aisle, and let them know that this is serious business. This is actually no longer just about Emilio González running for mayor. This is about a national movement by the left to capture, yet again, another major U.S. city, except this time it’s in the president’s home state.

Washington Reporter:

Miami has not elected a Democrat as mayor in this millennium. So what have Republicans there been doing so right for so long that Republicans elsewhere can be looking to as an example?

Emilio González:

Well, for many years, Republicans showed up. They rally around their candidate, they show up. They show up in droves. In this last primary election, the Republicans didn’t show up for whatever reason. They stayed home. They stayed home a lot, and that allowed my Democratic opponent to come in first. By the way this is a nonpartisan race, but she runs as a Democrat. That allowed them to get their get out the vote machine going. They brought in volunteers from outside the city, from outside the state, and what’s going to happen now is the Republican voters are going to have to wake up, figure out what’s happening, and they need to show up and vote.

Washington Reporter:

You mentioned some of the other election results happening on the same day as your initial race in November. One of the things that Democrats were very excited about was that they remade a lot of the gains with Hispanic voters, especially in New Jersey.

Emilio González:

Hispanic voters are swing voters, so nobody’s ever really gonna lock them down. They respond to what’s happening. They respond to what’s going on in their communities. Yes, they swung to the Republican Party, but at one point they were swinging to the Democratic Party as well. It’s a constituency that needs to be worked, they need to be heard, they need to pay a lot of attention to the Hispanic voters. Hispanic concerns are our concerns. They want good schools for their kids, they worry about crime, they worry about unemployment, they worry about the border. These are all issues that are tailor made for us.

Washington Reporter:

Speaking about crime, one of the things that I’ve noticed about your opponent is how she’s described that her political awakening was an anti-death penalty rally hosted by the Unabomber’s brother.

Emilio González:

That’s what I’m told. They said that that was her political coming of age of some sort. She’s also all in with cashless bail, which doesn’t have a lot of friends down here, but she’s all in with it. She is a product of the mainstream media. She is a product of the more radical trade unions. She is a product of the current Democratic leadership, if you will. They see a huge opportunity here. Like I said this, this is garnering a great deal of attention nationwide, not because of me, but because of her. I want to be a good mayor. I want to take care of our city. I want to promote our city. I want our residents to have a good quality of life. They, on the other hand, see this as something else. They see this as a huge ideological victory. And the opportunity to put one more feather in their cap against President Trump. And that’s how they’re managing their campaign. That’s how they’re managing their messaging. This is going to get national very quickly.

Washington Reporter:

You mentioned the difference between you and your opponent on cashless bail. But what other ways would Miamians be, in essence, safer with Mayor Emilio?

Emilio González:

I used to be the city manager, which meant I also had oversight of the police department. I want to make sure that our police department is taken care of, that they are well equipped, that they’re well paid. Same thing with our fire department. I don’t need somebody second guessing the chief of police about whether or not they should have done A, B, C or D. My bona fides are clear. I’ve already made my bona fides in this city, and she’s unproven. She was a county commissioner; all she did was vote. I’m not sure that there’s any executive experience there at all. So there’s a huge difference. We both have the same objective, we want a better city. We want a cleaner city. But how to get there? That’s where we differ.

Washington Reporter:

We’ve seen Democrats in the Trump era talk about protecting democracy, which is ironic in a lot of ways. But in your case, Democrats in Miami literally tried to cancel your election. You fought this every step of the way. Tell us about that saga.

Emilio González:

The only one that protected democracy here was Emilio González, the Republican candidate. Democrats all sat on their hands. They waited to see what was going to happen, and then when I won in court, they all stood up and cheered to claim victory. Not only did they claim victory, then they wanted to do fundraising off this great court victory that they had absolutely nothing to do with. I never received a phone call, a text message, an email, not even one from any of these people saying, ‘we’re with you, congratulations.’ Nothing. It was all me all the time, and they want to take credit for it. Now, all of a sudden, they want to save the democracy that I saved already.

Washington Reporter:

Is this important to you in part because you’re from Cuba?

Emilio González:

That, plus the fact that I’m also a retired Army officer. I retired as a colonel. I traveled throughout Latin America. I was assigned throughout Latin America. I was promoting democracy. I was promoting professional armed forces. This is very personal to me. Then I come to Miami and find out that our own politicians want to steal our election. What kind of an example are we setting there? Remember that Miami is populated by people, by and large, who come from countries where they’re not allowed to vote. And all of a sudden they’re going to come here and be told, ‘you can’t vote here either.’ No way.

Washington Reporter:

With your military background, what you think about the Trump administration’s push in Latin America. We’ve seen two ways that I think of this: upping the bounty on Nicolas Maduro’s head, and then drone striking these drug boats coming from countries like Venezuela.

Emilio González:

I think that’s huge and very positive. When you’re in these boats with these types of engines, you’re not fishing, you’re bringing in drugs. We’ve known about this for years, but no government has ever wanted to step up and do this, and President Trump is doing it, and he’s protecting the American public from all of these drug traffickers. It’s about time. We abandoned Latin America in the Biden years completely, and also in the Obama years, and the Chinese moved in. I think the fact that we’re reasserting our presence, we’re reasserting the importance of this region, and we’re reasserting our national security, all that plays into what you’re seeing and reading about now.

Washington Reporter:

During the Bush presidency, you ran USCIS. Can you talk a little bit more about how Biden’s open border harmed Miami?

Emilio González:

It wasn’t even an open border policy, it was a no border policy, and all of a sudden we had millions and millions of anonymous people come across the border. Our immigration system collapsed. Our legal immigration system collapsed. It’s something that turned every city and every state into a border city and a border state. There was just no rhyme or reason why you would open up your border to the entire world, and then look the American people in the face and say, ‘oh, we’re not doing that.’ The cities are reeling from it, whether it’s with crime or homelessness or housing unavailability. President Trump’s election is probably the first in memory where we weren’t running on the economy, and we weren’t running on some foreign war. We were running on immigration, and it turned out that his policy was correct, and people put him back in the White House.

Washington Reporter:

Finally, what is your message to people in New York City and Seattle who just elected socialist mayors?

Emilio González:

Learn to live with what you just did, because it’s very easy to elect a socialist mayor and then move to Florida. It’s almost sinful. There has been nowhere in the world where socialism works, nowhere, and, in fact, everywhere in the world, it fails. Socialism has killed over 100 million people. So tell me how that’s our right thing to vote for. It isn’t, which makes you wonder about the quality of the voter and what’s in their mind, their intent. Their intent isn’t really about voting in an election. Their intent is about changing ideologically, what the United States is and stands for.

Washington Reporter:

Thanks so much for chatting, Emilio.