Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday he “currently” doesn’t plan to endorse a candidate before the March 15 Republican presidential primary in Florida.
But in an opinion piece for USA Today, Scott praised Republican front-runner and part-time Florida resident Donald Trump.
In the piece titled “Donald Trump has America’s pulse: Rick Scott,” Florida’s second-term governor credited the billionaire real-estate developer as someone “who speaks and tweets his mind freely.”
But Scott said Trump’s standing in the polls is more about Trump’s ability to capture “the frustration of many Americans after seven years of President Obama’s very intentional government takeover of the American economy.” (The full paragraph, in context, is as follows: “I know Donald Trump personally, and while I currently have no plans to endorse a candidate before Florida’s March presidential primary, there is no doubt that Donald is a man who speaks and tweets his mind freely. But, I don’t think his ability to give the most interesting interviews or speeches is the only thing that has him leading in the polls. I think he is capturing the frustration of many Americans after seven years of President Obama’s very intentional government takeover of the American economy.”)
“Have you tried to start a business recently? That used to be the American dream,” Scott wrote. “But, after seven years of endless and tedious regulation and taxation, it is nearly unaffordable to do so. Americans are mad, and I agree with them.”
Scott’s opinion piece is in contrast to many state Republican leaders, who have lined up in the presidential campaign behind former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush or U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
Scott had earlier hinted that he might make an endorsement prior to the primary, saying he wanted someone who would take a strong stance against Islamic terrorists, while focusing on the nation’s economy by cutting taxes and reducing the size of government.
In the opinion piece, Scott said he expects the next president to have “a believable plan for robust job creation.”
“Yes, foreign policy and defense will be front burner issues in this election, but let’s not forget that without a thriving economy, we will never be able to afford the kind of vigorous defenses that our country must have,” Scott wrote. “Our next president cannot simply tweak our national economic policies. We need a complete overhaul.”
Scott didn’t make an endorsement before Florida’s presidential primary in 2012. But there has been pressure the past year on Scott to answer questions about the crowded GOP field, which includes Bush, Rubio and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who helped Scott campaign for re-election in 2014.
While Scott has been widely speculated to be setting up a run for the U.S. Senate in 2018, Florida Democratic Party spokesman Max Steele tweeted in response to Scott’s column: “Trump-Scott 2016?”
tulip says
Gov. Scott is a big frustration all by himself and any endorsement by him is definitely not a big deal.
Anthony says
Although I am an independent, I believe Trump to be by far the best candidate for the Republicans. He does indeed stand up for the United States citizens first before all others. That is a true president potential
Diana L. says
That would be the dumber and dumb ticket. Lawd, just take me now.
Sherry says
Trump is a dangerous bigoted, sexist, narcissistic megalomaniac and Scott is a heartless, horrific politician who has done NOTHING for Florida, and who panders to the billionaire 1%! What a combination of terrible human beings!
Geezer says
America’s embrace of outright thieves and loudmouthed, uncouth assholes with bad toupees is one glaring
sign of our imminent demise as a nation. When education is a luxury – then the gullible and foolish
form the concomitant majority of idiots casting ballots.
Still, I hope that it’s not too late.
Knightwatch says
Trump is capturing (and exposing) the hate fear, bigotry and prejudice that is just below the surface of many white Americans, and unfortunately, many professed “Christians”. First they get a black man in the White House. Then multiculturalism and LGBT rights. And now the threat of a smart, savvy, powerful and very well qualified woman as president. The horror … the horror!
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Toupee/Voldemort 2016
Vincent Neri says
I can tell you what the frustration is. The frustration is that most people are not high income earners. If we cannot move the needle in a dramatic way and get a larger percentage of the population into higher incomes then not much will ever change. High income means you pay into the federal government more than you take out. Their are lots of arguments as to how people might do better in life but if you look at the percentage of people with advanced degrees it still makes up a very small percentage of the population. As a nation we can have endless conversations about the state of the nation, elect new leaders, and listen to endless news commentary but the fact is we are not moving the needle. In graduate school you are often asked how you might go about achieving some task in a case study. It is time we ask our leaders how they are going to get a much larger percentage of the population into the higher income brackets. When you have more people doing better their is alot less frustration and the whole country benefits.
Anthony says
@knightwatch
One could easily state the same about blacks. But why bring the color of one’s skin into this article? To do so shows you to be insecure of your race and nationality.
By your comment, you certainly are not of Christian values.
For people to disapprove of homosexuals, does not, and never will, make them bigot. That makes them a follower of the Creator of mankind and a giant step towards true Christianity.
Sherry says
Geezer and Knightwatch, you are my heros. . . along with Samuel, Nancy, Diana and a few others. Reasonable voices in the wilderness of fear and hate. Just wanted you all to know!
YankeeExPat says
Anthony says: as to Trump; “He does indeed stand up for the United States citizens first before all others. That is a true president potential”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IrE6FMpai8
AH……brrrrrrrrrrrbbbbb, brrrrrrrrbbbbbb, brrrrrrbbbb !
Sherry says
You are my hero also, YankeeExPat!
And Anthony. . . here’s the TRUTH about the accuracy of what Trump says. . . this from politifact:
PolitiFact has been documenting Trump’s statements on our Truth-O-Meter, where we’ve rated 76 percent of them Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire, out of 77 statements checked. No other politician has as many statements rated so far down on the dial.
In considering our annual Lie of the Year, we found our only real contenders were Trump’s — his various statements also led our Readers’ Poll. But it was hard to single one out from the others. So we have rolled them into one big trophy.
To the candidate who says he’s all about winning, PolitiFact designates the many campaign misstatements of Donald Trump as our 2015 Lie of the Year.
When it comes to inaccurate statements, the Donald was on fire:
• “I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down,” he said at a Nov. 21 rally in Birmingham, Ala. “And I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering.” Pants on Fire. There is no video of thousands of people in Jersey City cheering. Weeks later, Trump continues to stand by his claim but has not been able to point to evidence to back it up. Public safety officials on the ground in New Jersey say it never happened.
• “The Mexican government … they send the bad ones over.” Pants on Fire. There’s no evidence to show the Mexican government encourages criminals to cross the border. Most illegal immigration comes from people seeking work. Recent estimates show illegal immigration from Mexico dropped off dramatically during the recession and has remained low.
• “Whites killed by whites — 16%. Whites killed by blacks — 81%,” said an image he shared on Twitter. Pants on Fire. Most people are killed by someone they know, and someone of the same race. The correct number for whites killed by whites was 82 percent in 2014, while the number of whites killed by blacks was 15 percent.
When Bill O’Reilly of Fox News challenged Trump’s tweet of inaccurate murder rates, Trump suggested being accurate wasn’t so important: “Hey, Bill, Bill, am I gonna check every statistic? I get millions and millions of people …