Senate Democrats poke at Rick Scott’s record on Medicare, Social Security

Rick Scott. Screenshot via DSCC's 'FL Memories' ad.

As Sunshine State seniors plod through Facebook posts, national Democrats plan to reach them with a simple message: Don’t trust U.S. Sen. Rick Scott with your future benefits.

Democrats in the Midterms painted Scott’s “Rescue America” policy blueprint as an attack on Medicare and Social Security. A new digital ad against the incumbent Republican strikes the same tone, while retreading on a well-worn critique of Scott’s private sector background.

“First, Scott oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in America’s history,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) spokesperson Maeve Coyle.

“Then he spent months crafting and bragging about his signature plan to gut Medicare and Social Security, policies that would spike the cost of health care and prescription drugs for Florida seniors. He was already unlikeable and unpopular — and his attacks on Medicare will give Floridians even more reason to vote him out of office in 2024.”

The “FL Memories” ad asks seniors to recall all the times Scott’s name appeared in a headline alongside the word Medicare. “You’ve got memories with Rick Scott,” the narrator states. “Remember his radical plan to take away your Medicare? It would devastate millions of Florida seniors and drive costs sky high.”

That’s a reference to “Rescue America,” a Midterm agenda Scott rolled out as he chaired the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee in the 2022 election cycle.

Released in February 2022, the plan initially called for sunsetting all federal programs after five years and subjecting them to congressional review. President Joe Biden and Democratic counterparts pounced on this as an attack on Medicare and Social Security. The episode also put Scott and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on the outs.

The ad runs unflattering images of Scott in a mockup of a social media newsfeed similar to Facebook’s daily memories posts. The DSCC said it will spend five figures pushing the ad on Meta platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

For his part, Scott consistently said he did not want to end Social Security or Medicare and ultimately revised his “Rescue America” plan to explicitly exempt those programs from review. Nevertheless, Democrats used the plan against Republicans nationwide and the GOP ultimately netted a one-seat loss in the Senate, leaving Democrats in the majority.

The ad grabs a video clip of a recalcitrant Scott saying he “would like to apologize to absolutely nobody.”

The narrator in the ad leaves voters with a simple takeaway. “You can’t trust Rick Scott. He’s a threat to your Medicare.”

Coyle’s statement, meanwhile, suggests Democrats also plan to raise another Medicare-related attack on Rick Scott.

Before his political career, Scott founded Columbia Hospital Corporation and later led a post-merger Columbia/HCA, but was forced out after the federal government alleged illegal and fraudulent billing practices. The company reached a settlement and admitted to 14 felonies while agreeing to pay $1.7 billion in fines.