Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) on Friday slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for having no plan in 2022 to retake the Senate majority.
Scott announced on Wednesday his bid to replace McConnell as Senate Republican leader. Scott previously ran for the position after the 2022 midterm elections, garnering ten votes in his favor.
Scott served as the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman last election cycle and pinned the blame on the Kentucky Republican for why Republicans were unable to retake the Senate majority.
“We needed to have an overall plan,” Scott explained in an interview with Politico.
“We didn’t. OK. But if you’re the NRSC chair, you don’t get to do that. That was driven by the leader of the Senate, who made the decision not to have a plan. He was very clear.”
He also said that McConnell took away one of his committee assignments, removing him from the Commerce Committee.
“That’s clearly retaliation — no ifs, ands, or buts about it,” Scott said.
The Florida senator is also up for reelection in the 2024 cycle and has claimed that McConnell is trying to damage his fundraising ability in the Sunshine State.
“He told people not to give me money,” he remarked.
Scott has tried to tie his rivals, Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX), to McConnell and emphasize former President Donald Trump in the leadership race.
“If you don’t want to have a dramatic change in how the Senate is operated, and if you think that everything’s going fine, you wouldn’t vote for me…I’m a change person. I’m a change agent,” Scott said.
When asked about Trump’s enthusiasm for getting in the Senate GOP leadership race, Scott said, “He said he’s excited that I’m getting in. So I’m going to try to, you know, of course, get him to support my [candidacy] — like I’m going to try to get everybody.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) weighed in, saying, “He’d be a favorite of the president’s; of course, he likes the other guys, too. I know [Trump] likes Rick; Rick’s spent a lot of time down in Florida and knows him quite well.”
“I’m glad he’s in. We get away from the John syndrome,” Tuberville added.
Many conservatives in and out of Congress have praised Scott’s bid for Senate GOP leader.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk, and Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) have all praised his bid.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
