Rick Scott says he’s not thinking of becoming Donald Trump’s VP

Rick Scott

A day after Gov. Rick Scott became the subject of speculation that he could be considered in the mix as of potential running mates for GOP presidential front runner Donald Trump, he attempted to dial down those rumors by saying that he hadn’t thought at all about the possibility.

“I focus on this job. I’ve got three more years on this job,” he said when asked by longtime Tallahassee reporter Bill Cotterell at a news conference in his office Wednesday afternoon. “My goal is when I finish this job, people are going to say I have to live in Florida because everybody can get a great job.”

On Tuesday, The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza first broached the subject in an opinion piece also discussing Republicans Nikki Haley, Carly Fiorina and Sarah Palin as possible running mates. Trump rolled to his third consecutive primary victory Tuesday night in Nevada.

Unlike many other Florida Republicans, Scott has remained neutral in the Republican presidential sweepstakes, despite that two Florida native sons – Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio – have been considered front-tier candidates since they entered the race in 2015. Bush dropped out last weekend.

Scott told reporters on Wednesday that he hasn’t decided who he’ll back in Florida’s March 15 presidential primary.

“I’ve been very clear the things that are important to me,” he said. “I think we need to have a president that has a very specific plan on how we’re going to get jobs going in this country, just like we’ve done here in Florida. Somebody who is going to balance the budget. Somebody who is going to cut federal regulations in half. And somebody who is going to be absolutely focused on destroying ISIS.”

He later said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll endorse anyone before the primary.

Mitch Perry

Mitch Perry has been a reporter with Extensive Enterprises since November of 2014. Previously, he served five years as political editor of the alternative newsweekly Creative Loafing. Mitch also was assistant news director with WMNF 88.5 FM in Tampa from 2000-2009, and currently hosts MidPoint, a weekly talk show, on WMNF on Thursday afternoons. He began his reporting career at KPFA radio in Berkeley and is a San Francisco native who has lived in Tampa since 2000. Mitch can be reached at [email protected].


One comment

  • HeyJudeOregon

    February 25, 2016 at 12:59 am

    Had 4 different states voted and 3 were won by Cruz and only 1 by Trump would we be having this conversation? I HATE THE MEDIA TRYING TO TELL US WHO TO VOTE FOR. I HATE THIS SYSTEM OF NOT ALLOWING ALL STATES TO VOTE ON THE SAME DAY. My state doesn’t vote till May 17th! SO YOU TRYING TO TELL US WHO THE WINNER IS PISSES ME OFF!

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