Rick Scott pleads with Amy Coney Barrett backers to pressure Senators ahead of SCOTUS hearings

As uncertainty looms around the virus-positive President and the White House, Senate Republicans from Florida continue to wax confident about the prospects of Amy Coney Barrett‘s Supreme Court nomination.

Sen. Rick Scott, in a conversation Wednesday with Americans for Prosperity, asserted that despite hiccups in the process, optimism abounds for a Barrett confirmation this month.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is “absolutely committed” to getting the nomination through the Senate Judiciary Committee that he chairs, Scott said. And that will be timely, in terms of filling the spot before November 3.

“We’ll vote on her the last week of October,” Scott said, “sometime that week right before the election.”

The vote will have to be in person, a potential hurdle given that multiple U.S. Senators have been diagnosed with COVID-19. However, the committee hearings will be virtual.

Despite the apparently preordained outcome, Scott urged those who want the Barrett nomination to proceed to speak out on her behalf in the off chance his Republican colleagues go wobbly under pressure.

“Even if you really believe everybody’s going to vote the right way, do not take a chance,” Scott advised, urging people to contact Senators poised to vote to fill the opening in a matter of weeks.

Scott called attacks on the nominee’s religion “disgusting,” predicting stall “tactics” intended to “scare Senators, that they can’t vote for somebody for some reason.”

“Republican Senators, every day we’re in Session, most of us get together for lunch. People are excited. They know this is historic,” Scott said, with “most” of his colleagues sharing his enthusiasm for the nominee.

“Everybody’s really excited to get her confirmed. Also everybody’s really excited to get past this election and hopefully keep this Republican majority in the Senate,” Scott said. “Leave no judge behind.”

Despite a seeming monolith in the caucus, Scott said Republicans face “tough choices” in the next few weeks.

“You know you’re going to have protesters,” Scott said. “It’s nice to have somebody behind you telling you you’re doing the right thing.”

Especially, Scott noted, since the election is potentially on the line, with court challenges almost a given.

“My election in 2018 … they tried to change it through the courts,” Scott said. “We can’t let that happen.”

Scott has said regarding the nomination that “elections have consequences” and the pick is the President’s to make.

However, as the Senator’s call to action suggested, the confirmation as of yet is not a slam dunk.