Florida House Speaker Danny Perez humbled by Brazil appointment, denies tit-for-tat on redistricting
Florida House Speaker Danny Perez said he was humbled by his nomination to be the US Ambassador to Brazil and denied that his posting was in any way a reward for Florida’s recent congressional redistricting effort sought by President Trump.
Perez’s comments came in his first formal interview since the nomination, an interview with CBS Miami’s Jim DeFede scheduled to air Sunday morning on Facing South Florida.
The speaker said he learned he was nominated when the White House included his name in a list of appointments. “My phone started blowing up with text messages because the White House had released the nomination list,” he told CBS Miami. “That was when I figured it out. I probably found out after many other people found out.”
Perez claimed he had heard from “the rumor mill” that he was under consideration but denied having any conversations with the White House or with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Perez denies Democratic House Leader’s allegations on social media that the appointment is tit-for-tat with new congressional map
After his appointment was announced, Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted on X: “There it is, the Florida House Speaker traded a gerrymandered congressional map in the middle of the decade for an ambassadorship. The culture of corruption is happening in plain sight. Remember in November.”
Perez swiftly dismissed the allegation. “Hakeem Jeffries is ready for reality TV, just like every other liberal DC politician trying to just throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks,” Perez said in response to CBS News Miami. “That’s inaccurate, that’s false, that’s a lie, but I don’t entertain any of that. I’m sure he got the clicks and the likes, which was probably his only purpose.”
“Hakeem Jeffries insinuating that it was tit for tat is insane,” he added. “I never spoke to anyone about this nomination while the redistricting map was taking place.”
Perez says he is looking forward to working in Brazil
Perez said he was looking forward to serving in Brazil. He noted he has only visited Brazil “one time when I was maybe 20 years old for three days.” Asked if he speaks Portuguese, he said, “very little, very little, but I got to get on the saddle and start to learn some.”
Perez will be navigating a tense diplomatic situation. The relationship between the Trump administration and the Brazilian government led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been contentious in recent years, as Lula replaced Jair Bolsonaro, a friend and close ally of Trump. Bolsonaro was arrested and ultimately convicted of plotting a coup to overturn the results of that election.
Citing what he considered to be the mistreatment of Bolsonaro, Trump sought to punish Brazil with increased tariffs in a failed effort to force it to drop the charges against Bolsonaro. Just this week, Bolsonaro’s son, Flavio, who is considering a run for president against Lula later this year, met with Trump at the White House. Trump posted pictures of his meeting with the younger Bolsonaro, calling him “a smart young man who loves his country,” which set off another diplomatic kerfuffle with the government in Rio.
Perez said he is unfazed by the prospect of navigating the tense relationship between the two countries.
“I’ve been living in a tense political situation for years,” he said. “I think I’ll be just fine. I’m comfortable in that position because at the end of the day, you just have to make the right decisions and stand up for what you believe in. I’ve read the articles just like you have. Once I get to Brazil, I’m sure I’ll be informed of the situation at hand and represent the United States as best as I can and hopefully make all Americans proud.”
Perez is not the first Cuban American ambassador Trump has appointed
Perez is now the fourth Cuban American from Miami to be appointed an ambassador by Trump during his second term. The others are former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Cabrera to Panama, healthcare businessman Benjamin Leon to Spain, and Bernie Navarro to Peru.
Perez responded to the significance he drew from that: “I think all of them have something in common, which is they come from Cuban backgrounds. I think all of us understand the importance of standing up for democracy. All of us understand the importance of capitalism. And all of us understand what happens when it’s taken away from you. And so, if I had to find one similarity between all of us, it’s that. I think we’re very proud to be Americans, but we understand that democracy is important, and we want to make sure that the entire world, not just the United States, recognizes the importance of that.”