Rick Scott ‘not focused’ on running for President in 2024

U.S. Senator Rick Scott returned to CNN Sunday with his version of the closing pitch for the Donald Trump campaign, but ended up disclaiming rumors about 2024 ambitions in the process.

Scott, appearing on State of the Union with host Jake Tapper, said that he was “not focused” on a 2024 run for President.

“No, and by the way, think about it,” Scott said, before recalibrating to message. “I’m going to work my tail off to get President Trump elected.”

“That’s what everybody ought to be focused on. Everybody ought to be focused on doing the jobs that they have. My job is a U.S. Senator, representing the state of Florida the best I can.”

“I’m not focused on it,” Scott said. “I like my job as U.S. Senator and that’s what I’m going to focus on.”

Tapper’s question and Scott’s response will remind veteran Florida political watchers of the “will-he-or-won’t-he” coy dance regarding then-Gov. Scott’s run for Senate in 2018, a virtual inevitability that Scott wouldn’t confirm on mic, preferring instead to say how many days he had in office.

Indeed, the Senator has more than one line working as the 2020 campaign season comes to a close.

Scott late in October released two ads from his political committee. One was a GOTV ad for President Trump, and the second one was more of a personal manifesto, with the Senator saying he was “mad” at rioters and protesters.

Scott talked the Florida close, also, and reiterated his contention that “Democrats have no grassroots” in predicting a Trump victory Tuesday night in the Sunshine State.

The Senator also rehearsed familiar talking points that Trump’s tough talk on anti-American leaders in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua has helped the President with Hispanics, before suggesting that Puerto Ricans may also come through for Trump.

“It took time but the work on Puerto Rico has paid off,” Scott said, not offering more detail on that hypothesis.

Despite the strong rhetoric in favor of the President’s reelection, Scott has not been a fixture at Trump campaign events, appearing where the President is not for the most part.

“I’m busting my butt to raise money to keep the Republican Senate,” he said late last month on the Fox News Channel.

Scott just returned from Arizona, where he campaigned for Senator Martha McSally.

That Senator, down in most polls of her race, was disrespected by President Trump at a rally in her state when her speaking time was truncated in favor of hard-right British politician Nigel Farage, who is not on the ballot in the U.S. in 2020.