With three little words — “What’s a Uyghur?” — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez went viral, but it was his attempt to explain away the gaffe that really had people scratching their heads.

Suarez tweeted about his failure to answer Hugh Hewitt‘s question regarding the minority group in China.

“Of course, I am well aware of the suffering of the Uyghurs in China,” Suarez wrote. “They are being enslaved because of their faith. China has a deplorable record on human rights and all people of faith suffer there. I didn’t recognize the pronunciation my friend Hugh Hewitt used. That’s on me.”

The International community has accused China of genocide regarding its treatment of the Uyghurs. The group of Turkic-speaking Muslims in China that number about 12 million.

Journalists and podcasters were quick to pounce on Suarez’s mistake.

Toward the end of the interview, Hewitt asked, “Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?”

After Suarez’s now infamous answer, Hewitt quipped, “Okay, we’ll come back to that. Let me, you won’t, you’ve got to get smart on that.”

It was Suarez who brought up his gaffe before signing off.

“And you gave me homework, Hugh. I’ll look at what a — what was it? — what did you call it, a Weeble?”

“The Uyghur,” Hewitt answered. “You really need to know about the Uyghurs, Mayor. You’ve got to talk about it every day, okay?”

“I will talk about, I will search Uyghurs,” Suarez said. “I’m a good learner. I’m a fast learner.”

Earlier this month, cable news hosts discussed Suarez’s “mostly ceremonial” role as Miami’s mayor and whether he was capable of leading at the presidential level.

On Fox News, Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL) said Suarez “fools people into thinking he’s a lot bigger than what he really is, and, again, I wouldn’t really waste my time with him, he’s just, he’s a fraud in my estimation.”

The post Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Gets Pulverized for Viral Uyghur Gaffe, Blames Hugh Hewitt’s ‘Pronunciation’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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