Ana Navarro dishes on Miami, politics and being on TV | Jalen Rose Renaissance Man | New York Post

From Jalen Rose: The next guest on “Renaissance Man” is the de facto first lady of Miami, and the reigning reina de Magic City, if you will. So I was curious what political commentator and strategist Ana Navarro thought about the influx of Tri-Staters to her hometown.

“My God, there are so many New Yorkers here, I feel like I might finally be able to find a decent bagel,” she told me. However, she doesn’t know if they’ll be packing their bags and their superior bread products once they get their first hurricane alert.

“I want to see if they’re still here once Broadway reopens and things get a little bit more normal,” she said.

But if they’ve had a chance to brush shoulders with Ana, they might never leave South Florida. I first met her in Miami only a few months ago. We were shooting in adjacent studios, and we started talking. I had always admired her work, but I became an even bigger fan after I found out that we had two good friends in common: my idol Isiah Thomas and Luther Campbell. We bonded immediately. However, in her version, she was only concerned with my outfit.

“Well, are we going to tell them what you were wearing when we met?” she asked me. “You were in a robe and a straw hat and flip-flops … by the way, this was not a bedroom. This is not Charlie Rose. This is not Harvey Weinstein. He was actually broadcasting his show.”

The truth is: My mother had just passed away, and I flew to Miami to heal and reflect on life. I was caught in a moment: a Versace robe and straw hat kind of moment.

I learned very quickly that Ana is a extremely witty and has a Ph.D. in busting chops. Those are two skills that come in handy as a regular guest host of “The View.”

Born in Nicaragua, her family fled a communist regime, landing in the melting pot of South Florida, which is made up of Latino immigrants seeking a better life. She said her upbringing colored her career choice.

“I think when that happened so early on in life. You go one of two ways, either you want nothing to do with the politics or you realize how much politics matters, how much democracy matters, how much being engaged and informed and involved matters, and you don’t take it for granted. And so for me, it was the latter,” she said.

Ana backed Jeb Bush for governor in Florida and worked on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. She then became a familiar face on both network and cable news shows, but she realized she was working for free.

“I think it’s a lesson for us. Because so often people will you know, as long as people can get you to do things for free, they will,” she said. “And so I said, you have got to pay me. And to my shock they did.” Though it opened up a lot of new avenues for her, she takes pride in her journey. In fact, she does a lot of college speeches and is often asked how to get on TV.

I learned very quickly that Ana is a extremely witty and has a Ph.D. in busting chops. Those are two skills that come in handy as a regular guest host of “The View.”

Born in Nicaragua, her family fled a communist regime, landing in the melting pot of South Florida, which is made up of Latino immigrants seeking a better life. She said her upbringing colored her career choice.

“I think when that happened so early on in life. You go one of two ways, either you want nothing to do with the politics or you realize how much politics matters, how much democracy matters, how much being engaged and informed and involved matters, and you don’t take it for granted. And so for me, it was the latter,” she said.

Ana backed Jeb Bush for governor in Florida and worked on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. She then became a familiar face on both network and cable news shows, but she realized she was working for free.

“I think it’s a lesson for us. Because so often people will you know, as long as people can get you to do things for free, they will,” she said. “And so I said, you have got to pay me. And to my shock they did.” Though it opened up a lot of new avenues for her, she takes pride in her journey. In fact, she does a lot of college speeches and is often asked how to get on TV.

I have enormous respect for anybody who can turn an ass into an asset,” Navarro said.

#AnaNavarro #JalenRose #RenaissanceMan

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