Endorsement? Rick Scott says Ron DeSantis will ‘continue to lead the party’ into 2022
Image via AP.

rickscottdesantis
The Senator expects DeSantis to get reelected.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott on Monday predicted the reelection of Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, saying the Governor will “continue to lead the party.”

The Senator from Florida, appearing on the “National Report” program on the Newsmax cable network, was asked “who would be the right person to lead the state of Florida when it comes to the Governor’s race in 2022. Is it DeSantis? Does he maintain his position?”

Scott answered the question as if it was clear.

“Oh, I think — I mean, look. The state’s open for business. Our schools are open. Um, you know, we’re going to continue to work hard in our state, so I think that he’ll continue to lead the party and be the next Governor,” Scott said of DeSantis.

The response to the question signaled a public rapprochement between the past and the present governors, both of whom were linked to 2024 presidential bids in speculation after Donald Trump‘s loss last year.

While the two had lobbed volleys at each other during 2020’s unemployment crisis, with DeSantis blaming Scott for the “jalopy” of an unemployment website, perhaps these favorable comments mean the worst is over in terms of conflict between the two conservative giants.

Scott appears to be out of the 2024 presidential mix. He has said he is focused on taking back the Senate in his duties as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the organization tasked with the reelection campaigns of Republican senators. Scott, in his first term, has taken criticism for using the NRSC as the “National Rick Scott Committee.”

DeSantis, meanwhile, continues to be feted as an emergent national leader of the conservative movement. And he increasingly has a national presence and reputation, with polling and fundraising to match.

Even as the Legislature begins on Monday to hash out the particulars of the Seminole Compact, a proposed pact with the Tribe that could reshape Florida’s gaming industry for decades to come, the Governor is preparing for a $5,000 minimum contribution lunch for his “Friends of Ron DeSantis” political committee in Texas.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. He writes for the New York Post and National Review also, with previous work in the American Conservative and Washington Times and a 15+ year run as a columnist in Folio Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


3 comments

  • James R. Miles

    May 17, 2021 at 12:43 pm

    If Rick Scott says so, you know that it must be true……..NOT!! Ricky, try doing your job for a change rather than mindless rhetoric!!

  • Frankie M.

    May 17, 2021 at 12:58 pm

    Those two squids need to just bury the anchor & get matching betty boop tatts.

  • PeterH

    May 18, 2021 at 10:38 am

    The Republican Florida Clown Bus is gearing up for the grand swamp tour!

    DeSantis is so proud of Florida’s eighth in the nation death toll from Covid! When was the last time you saw Donald Trump, Rick Scott, Ron DeSantis and/or Marco Rubio pushing a public service announcement for all Floridians to get the Covid vaccine?

    What a bunch of freedumb losers!

Comments are closed.


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