Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott endorsed former President Donald Trump over his dwelling state’s governor Ron DeSantis, as polling continues to indicate Trump because the clear front-runner within the GOP presidential major.
Scott wrote in an op-ed for Newsweek printed Thursday morning that he encourages “each Republican to unite behind” Trump.
“I do know a lot of the candidates working for president, and I respect their determination to place themselves by means of this very tough course of,” Scott wrote. “Make no mistake: each single considered one of them can be a greater president than Joe Biden. However Republican voters are making their voices heard loud and clear. They wish to return to the management of Donald Trump.”
In a separate assertion, Scott referred to Trump because the “strongest candidate.” Information of Scott’s endorsement was first reported by The Messenger.
Whereas no votes can be solid within the presidential major till Jan. 15, 2024, Trump has maintained a wholesome lead in latest polls within the early states. A Des Moines-Register/NBC ballot launched Monday confirmed 43% of possible Iowa GOP caucus-goers picked Trump as their first selection, whereas DeSantis was tied with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 16%.
A distinct October ballot commissioned by a nonprofit with ties to DeSantis confirmed Trump at 46% in Iowa, with DeSantis at 20% and Haley at 12%.
Scott and DeSantis’ icy relationship
Scott and DeSantis have had a contentious relationship, partly stemming from the transition on the finish of Scott’s personal time period as governor in 2019, when he handed the reins to DeSantis. Scott made greater than 80 state appointments in his final days within the governor’s mansion and missed DeSantis’ inauguration speech, in accordance with the Tampa Bay Occasions.
In February, DeSantis pushed again on Scott’s suggestion that unspent federal funds from COVID-19 assist needs to be despatched again to repay nationwide debt.
“I recognize when federal of us are involved about how we’re managing this. Why do not they get their home so as? Why do not they cease spending a lot of our cash?” DeSantis mentioned at a press convention that month.
And when President Biden visited Florida after Hurricane Idalia in September, Scott was there, whereas DeSantis skipped a gathering along with his potential common election opponent.
The DeSantis marketing campaign dismissed Scott’s endorsement of Trump, pointing to the governor’s assist amongst lawmakers and GOP officers in early major states and in Florida.
“Ron DeSantis has extra endorsements from state legislators than the previous president in Iowa (41), New Hampshire (62), and South Carolina (16). He additionally has the assist of just about all Florida elected officers as a result of he labored with them to ship historic outcomes for the conservative motion,” DeSantis marketing campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo mentioned in response to Scott’s endorsement. Greater than 90 Florida GOP state legislators have backed the governor.
“The governor will win his dwelling state as a result of Floridians wish to see a fighter who will deliver the identical sort of results-oriented management to Washington that he has supplied within the Sunshine State,” Romeo added.
CBS Information has reached out to the Trump marketing campaign for touch upon Scott’s endorsement.
One Florida GOP strategist who has labored on previous presidential campaigns questioned the influence Scott’s endorsement would have in states like Iowa and New Hampshire. “What number of Iowa and NH voters are devotees of Rick Scott?” they mentioned.
Scott’s transfer to an endorsement
Scott mentioned in April he would not endorse within the presidential major, and cited a concentrate on his personal reelection bid in 2024. However he teased a possible break from that stance throughout his speech on the Republican Jewish Coalition summit in Las Vegas over the weekend.
“Simply assume what we had with the final president — probably the most pro-Israel president within the historical past of this nation,” Scott mentioned to donors in Las Vegas. “Some individuals have totally different opinions about Donald Trump, however he did extra for Israel than any president within the nation.”
Scott touted an airstrike Trump ordered in January 2020 that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard. He additionally cited the Trump administration’s determination to maneuver the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which upset a lot of the Arab world however gained reward from many Israelis.
“I’m optimistic that we will return America to its rightful place of financial and army power and the undisputed ethical chief of the free world, however solely with robust management within the White Home. That’s the reason I assist my pal President Donald J. Trump to be the forty seventh president of the USA,” Scott wrote in his op-ed Thursday.
Scott was the chair of the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee within the 2022 midterm cycle and took a hands-off strategy in GOP Senate major races, a choice that earned him appreciable blame when Democrats defeated a number of Trump-endorsed nominees and retained management of the higher chamber.
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