Rick Scott warns against ‘rush’ to pick GOP Senate leader

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott continues to contend this week is too early to vote for new Senate GOP caucus leadership, even as he stops short of saying he wants Mitch McConnell‘s job.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Scott told Fox News’ Larry Kudlow on Monday. “All our focus ought to be on Georgia right now. We ought to be focused on that. We still have an election in Alaska. Hopefully, we’re going to win in Georgia.”

“So why would we rush into these elections? A lot of us have said that we need to wait. And let’s talk about what we can do going forward to make sure we win in ’24,” Scott added. “And that’s who our leaders ought to be: who has got the best ideas to make sure we govern well and win in ’24.”

Asked if he was backing McConnell, Scott stopped short of saying he was challenging him, contending he wanted to “focus on how we go forward.”

The opaque answers from Scott continue a mini-trend of nebulous responses to questions about whether he thinks he has the juice to knock McConnell out of the top job in the Republican caucus.

“A lot of people have called me to see if I would run,” Scott said on the Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures.

He noted that while his “focus” is the runoff election in Georgia, he’s open to taking McConnell’s job if it comes down to it.

“I’m not going to take anything off the table,” Scott told host Maria Bartiromo. “But my job right now is to do everything I can do to help Herschel Walker. I’m going to be there today helping Herschel. That’s what my focus is. We shouldn’t be having these elections.”

Sunday’s spot continued the Senator’s damage control interviews on friendly media outlets. On Friday, Scott described the midterm election as a “complete disappointment.”

“Here’s what happened to us. Election Day, our voters didn’t show up. We didn’t get enough voters. It was a complete disappointment,” Scott told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

With former President Donald Trump backing a Scott play for McConnell’s job, this storyline likely isn’t over until Republicans hold the vote, even as Scott continues to stop short of saying he wants it.