Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) made numerous statements that went against the positions of Donald Trump, even as the influential Republican lawmaker softened his language to save face with the 45th president’s supporters.
During an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press, Scott, who serves as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), indicated that he will use his position to financially support Republican incumbents in primaries — even when those races have a challenger endorsed by President Trump.
“I think you’d be foolish not to want and accept Donald Trump’s endorsement, but you’re going to win not because somebody endorses you,” Scott said.
Todd specifically asked if Scott will get behind Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who is highly disliked among Trump supporters.
Murkowski voted to convict Trump during his impeachment trial in February. Not surprisingly, Trump has endorsed her primary challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, saying in June that Tshibaka is “MAGA all the way.”
“Lisa Murkowski is bad for Alaska,” Trump said through his Save America PAC. “Murkowski has got to go!”
Yet Scott affirmed that the NRSC would “absolutely” give Murkowski money for her reelection bid.
“The National Republican Senatorial Committee, we support all of our incumbents. And fortunately for us, we’ve got great candidates running in our primaries,” he told Meet the Press.
Scott also voiced his support for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), saying he will again vote for him to lead the GOP in the Senate after the 2022 midterms.
The Washington Post notes:
Trump has said McConnell should not be a leader in the party and has regularly attacked him since the minority leader called Trump “practically and morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. On Sunday, Trump said McConnell was among the Republicans who “should be ashamed of themselves” for supporting the infrastructure bill.
“I’ve known Mitch McConnell since the early ’90s,” Scott said. “I actually lived in Kentucky and supported him then. I have a good working relationship with Mitch McConnell.”
The New American magazine has previously explored how McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, are financially tied to Communist China through business interests Chao’s family owns. McConnell has led the Republican conference in the Senate since 2007 and wins his reelections handily, scoring 82.8 percent of the vote in 2020 Republican Senate primary.
Scott avoided delving too deeply into questions about voter fraud and the 2022 election, but affirmed his belief that Joe Biden was legitimately elected.
When Todd brought up a poll that showed only 22 percent of Republicans believe Biden was legitimately elected, Scott replied, “Well, I think you’d have to ask them, but I think Joe Biden was elected president.”
Scott also refrained from responding to a statement by Trump last month that declared “The insurrection took place on November 3rd, election day. January 6th was the protest.”
“Look, you can go ask all these questions about why people think the way they do,” Scott said. “I can tell you what, you know, we’re going to win in ’22 because we’re going to talk about issues. We’re not going to talk about the last election.”
When pressed further, Scott fired back: “I’m focused on how do we win in ’22. And I know exactly how to win.”
For Scott, the way to win is for Republicans to keep Trump at arm’s length while not outright denouncing him. He pointed to last week’s upset gubernatorial victory in Virginia, in which Republican Glenn Youngkin took the governor’s seat while accepting Trump’s endorsement but not making the 45th president an issue of focus during his campaign.
“I hope Democrats continue to be obsessed with Donald Trump,” Scott said. “I think Terry McAuliffe would probably run his campaign differently, wouldn’t focus his whole campaign on Donald Trump. I think what we have to do is we have to say, we would love Donald Trump’s endorsement. If you’re a Republican, you want his endorsement, but you’re going to win on the issues.”
Scott, the former governor of Florida, was elected to the Senate in 2018, flipping a seat that had long been occupied by Democrat Bill Nelson. Prior to entering politics with his gubernatorial run in 2010, he made millions as an executive in the healthcare industry and as a venture capitalist.
