So much for ‘happy birthday’: Rick Scott rips Mitch McConnell in CPAC remarks

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott says Donald Trump is bringing “common sense” and the “voice of the American people” back to Washington. But he adds that even some Republicans are standing in Trump’s way, including Scott’s old nemesis Mitch McConnell.

Though Scott wished the former GOP Leader a “happy birthday” earlier Thursday, he told conservative activists that McConnell was an emblem of the “past” during an afternoon speech, an example of “establishment Republicans clinging to relevance.”

“Mitch McConnell supported Merrick Garland’s nomination for Attorney General. He has already voted against three of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees,” the Naples Republican said at CPAC 2025 in Washington, D.C.

Scott defended his plan to “rescue the country,” which proposed when he ran in 2022 for the leadership position held by the Kentucky Republican, saying he “couldn’t tell who hated it more: Joe Biden or Mitch McConnell.”

Now, with Trump serving as President and McConnell saying he won’t run for re-election, Scott is voicing vindication to conservative advocates.

“I was tarred and feathered,” he said. “But it was worth it because it was time for Republicans, at least the true, honest conservative Republicans, to stand up and fight the hell back.”

This is a continuation of an ongoing war of words.

Scott blasted McConnell during the 2024 campaign, saying he wasn’t steering leadership money to him in his race against Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

Asked by TV host Mark Levin how much support McConnell has given his campaign, Scott said the Kentucky Senator offered “nothing.”

“He’s not going to help my campaign,” Scott said last October. “As a matter of fact, with less than two weeks left in a race, he attacks Donald Trump, a Republican nominee, and attacks me when I’m in a competitive race. The two competitive races in the Senate are Ted Cruz’s and my race, and he attacks me and then doesn’t support me financially, and he’s got this gigantic super PAC. So, this is about his power, not about making sure we get a Republican majority.”

McConnell’s memoir blames Scott for losing the Senate majority in 2022, when Republicans were talking up a red wave and Scott was predicting as many as 55 seats could be won when he helmed the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“I don’t think Rick makes a very good victim,” McConnell said. “I think he did a poor job of running the (Senate campaign) committee.”

Scott said he was “shocked” by the criticism.

During the 2022 cycle, McConnell voiced concerns about “candidate quality” that Scott dismissed. After the Midterm Elections, when Scott’s promise to flip the Senate Republican went unfulfilled, the Senator mustered just 10 votes in a failed leadership challenge.

But it appears Scott may have the last word, given McConnell’s imminent exit from public office.