Donald Trump takes credit for Rick Scott committee’s strong fundraising

Donald Trump doesn't take Rick Scott's leadership bid seriously.

Former President Donald Trump is six months removed from office, but that isn’t stopping him from making the case that “Trump” was central to the impressive fundraising effort of the major GOP political committees.

Included on that list of Trumpian beneficiaries: the National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by Florida’s Sen. Rick Scott.

“In addition to the RECORD BREAKING money raised over the last 6 months to my political affiliates, I am pleased to see the entire party benefit from ‘Trump.’ By using my name and likeness through many of their efforts, the Republican National Committee raised $84 million, the National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $51.2 million, and the National Republican Congressional Committee raised $79.2 million. Nearly $296.4 million in support of Trump! The Republican Party is unified behind Trump and the patriots continue to fuel this movement,” Trump contended.

Interestingly, the news release from the NRSC celebrating the $51M six-month period did not credit Trump at all.

“The more voters learn about the disastrous impacts of the Senate Democrats’ socialist agenda, the more the momentum builds to elect a Republican Senate majority in 2022,” Scott said in July.

“The NRSC is making historic investments in digital fundraising that are already paying dividends and will continue to throughout the 2022 cycle. Democrats are hellbent on destroying this country with their agenda of open borders and amnesty, sky-high tax hikes, out-of-control spending, and crushing inflation. Americans are fed up and are counting on Senate Republicans to deliver a majority in 2022 to restore freedom and opportunity for our nation.”

However, while Trump may have gone unacknowledged in July, Scott showed his loyalty earlier in the year, when he invented an award to give to Trump in April.

The Senator somewhat improbably likened the award to the medals he used to give to American veterans while he was Governor. Scott told Washington Post Power Up anchor Jacqueline Alemany that he had a habit of giving out medals as Governor, including to “entrepreneurs” and 15,000 veterans, and the award to the former President was simply an extension of that generosity.

The timing of the award was notable: Scott gave the award roughly 24 hours before Trump called Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell a “dumb (SOB)” and a “stone-cold loser.” The Senator dismissed questions about whether he would have given the award had he known what Trump would say as “hypothetical.”

What’s not hypothetical, at least from Trump’s perspective: the debt that national Republicans, including Scott, have to his brand. If there was any doubt, the former President offered on Monday an unsolicited reminder.