Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday, just days after GOP frontman Donald Trump appeared in court on federal charges in the city of Suarez.

The 45-year-old mayor, the only one

Hispanic Latino

candidate in the race, declared his candidacy in paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday. He had previously teased an announcement.

Announcing his run on ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday, Suarez repeatedly tried to avoid questions about Trump’s behavior and the allegations in his indictment, saying he didn’t know all the details about how he handled classified information.

When Suarez was reminded that he was running against Trump, he responded, “See, that’s where you got it wrong. I’m running to be the president of the United States, and I’m running against Joe Biden’s America, an America where the poor are getting poorer, an America where America is getting weaker, an America where, if things don’t change, China will be the only superpower. That’s what I’m running for.

Suarez, the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is the son of Miami’s first Cuban-born mayor. He has gained national attention in recent years for his efforts to attract businesses to Miami, with a view to turning the city into a crypto hub and the next Silicon Valley.

Suarez competes to be the first sitting mayor to be elected president, and joins a GOP primary battle that includes Florida’s governor. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and former Governor of New Jersey. Chris Christie. Despite having a double-digit candidate field, the race is largely viewed as a two-person contest between Trump and DeSantis.

But the other competitors are hoping for an opening, which Trump has provided with his myriad legal vulnerabilities no more serious than his federal indictment on charges of mishandling sensitive documents and refusing to return them. He pleaded not guilty in Miami federal court on Tuesday to 37 felonies.

Before Trump arrived at the Miami courthouse on Tuesday, Suarez toured the media camp in a T-shirt with a police logo, as his city’s police force had jurisdiction over downtown.

Suarez has said he did not support Trump in the 2016 or 2020 presidential election, but wrote on behalf of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and then-Vice President Pence. In 2018, Suarez publicly condemned Trump after reports emerged that he questioned why the United States would accept more immigrants from Haiti and Africa, which Trump described with a vulgar nickname.

But times have changed, with Trump advisers praising Suarez’s work and helping him promote what he calls the Miami success story. Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former White House adviser, has even put forward Suarez’s name as a possible vice presidential choice.

Suarez, who is married with two young children, is a corporate and real estate attorney who previously served as a Commissioner of the City of Miami. He has also positioned himself as someone who can help connect the party further

Hispanics Latinos

. In recent months, he has made visits to early GOP voting states as he weighed up a possible 2024 campaign.

He is more moderate than DeSantis and Trump, but has carefully tipped the needle on cultural issues that have become popular among GOP politicians.

Suarez was critical of DeSantis, dismissing some of the state laws he has signed on immigration as empty headlines. He has said immigration is a problem that cries out for a national solution at a time when many Republicans support hardline policies.

The two-term mayor previously expressed support for a Florida law championed by DeSantis and dubbed Don’t Say Gay that would ban classroom teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, but he has not Like other Republicans, Suarez has criticized DeSanti’s feud with Disney over the same law, saying it seems like a personal vendetta.

Suarez, who has further ingratiated herself with the Trump team, echoed Trump’s attacks on DeSanti’s attitude, saying the governor doesn’t make eye contact and struggles with personal relationships with other politicians.

In 2020, the mayor made an effort to lure tech companies to Florida after the state eased COVID-19 restrictions. He met big tech players and investors such as PayPal founder Peter Thiel and tech magnate Marcelo Claure, appeared on national television and was profiled by magazines.

Suarez, who has said he receives his salary in Bitcoin, has also hosted Bitcoin conferences and began heavily promoting a cryptocurrency project called Miami Coin, created by a group called City Coins.

But the hype faded as coronavirus restrictions eased elsewhere, eliminating Miami’s COVID-19 advantage. Suarez’s vision also hit roadblocks with the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which would move its US headquarters to Miami’s Financial District before its founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested in the Bahamas last December.

The only cryptocurrency exchange that traded Miami Coin suspended its trading due to liquidity issues and fell short of its promise to generate enough money to eliminate city taxes.

Miami is also among the worst major US cities for income inequality and has one of the least affordable housing markets.