‘Scared to debate’? Rick Scott takes more fire for campaign strategy

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s refusal to commit to debating former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell continues to be a talking point for the Democratic challenger’s campaign.

“If I had backed a national abortion ban, written the plan to end Social Security and Medicare as we know them, and pushed to raise taxes on the middle class, I’d probably be scared to debate too,” said Mucarsel-Powell spokesperson Lauren Chou.

Scott dodged a question about whether he would debate Mucarsel-Powell earlier Wednesday.

“We’ll see what happens,” he told Manu Raju.

Mucarsel-Powell has been trying to bait Scott into a debate. She is open to debates on WPBF in West Palm Beach, WFLA in Tampa and WJXT in Jacksonville.

Last week, her campaign formalized its request for a “Spanish language statewide televised debate hosted in Florida to address the issues important to the Latino community in Florida and meet as many voters as possible where they are.”

“Floridians deserve a senator who will show up and answer for their record — something that Rick Scott is terrified to do,” Mucarsel-Powell said at the time.

Polls say the Senator leads on average by roughly 4 points. Mucarsel-Powell has yet to lead in any public survey.