Debbie Mucarsel-Powell says Mitch McConnell’s retirement makes Rick Scott more dangerous

Democratic Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell already calls GOP incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Scott “extreme.” But with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stepping down this year, she is arguing Scott could become more powerful — and more dangerous.

“The stakes of this race just got so much higher,” said the Miami Democrat, who is attempting to run against Scott for his Senate seat. “Now the Florida Senate race will not only decide if we (Democrats) keep the Senate majority, but who the leader of that majority will be.”

Mucarsel-Powell noted that Scott, after the 2022 Midterms, challenged McConnell for the job of GOP caucus leader. Scott lost that race, receiving just 10 votes, so it’s not clear what appetite exists for elevating him to leadership.

But Scott for months has been among McConnell’s most vocal detractors among Senate Republicans. After news broke about McConnell’s impending retirement as leader, Scott signaled that he could seek the post again.

“As everyone knows, I challenged Leader McConnell last year,” he said in a statement. “This is an opportunity to refocus our efforts on solving the significant challenges facing our country and actually reflect the aspirations of voters.”

Mucarsel-Powell says she is acting as if Scott will try again for the job of Republican leader.

“Anyone who has watched his career knows he is only in it for self-gain and self-enrichment,” she said. “It would be disastrous to have someone like Rick Scott, if he goes back to the Senate, become Senate Majority Leader. He would bring the most hurtful bills to the Senate floor.”

She pointed toward Scott’s 11-point Rescue America plan, a document her campaign previously brought up to attack the incumbent. That called for a sunset of all major programs for review after five years, something Democrats widely saw as an attack on Medicare and Social Security.

Scott notably revised that plan shortly after its release and made clear he did not want to end either program. But Mucarsel-Powell notes that only happened after McConnell publicly rebuked the plan.

“That will not be part of the Republican Senate majority agenda,” McConnell told press after the initial plan’s release.

The relationship between McConnell and Scott seemed to sour permanently afterward. Now, Mucarsel-Powell is highlighting the many points where Scott’s positions were sidelined by McConnell. That includes whether to consider a border deal and if Congress should send aid to Ukraine, not to mention Scott’s unwavering loyalty to former President Donald Trump.

Scott for his part has questioned McConnell, particularly in the last year, saying McConnell has been too deferential to President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats. Both Scott and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida’s other Republican Senator, voted against a foreign aid package passed in the Senate.

“This process has destroyed the Senate and ignores the great history of our nation,” Scott said in a floor speech about his vote against the deal.

But Mucarsel-Powell argued the incumbent held positions favored by the far right that hurt national security, and he would force those positions as a Senate leader.

“He is nothing but a poster child of extreme policies,” she said.