EXCLUSIVE: Rick Scott on insurance, antisemitism, and 2024 campaign
Amber Jo Cooper co-authored this report.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (FLV) – In an exclusive interview with Florida’s Voice, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., discussed his 2024 re-election campaign, Florida’s insurance crisis and recent antisemitic attacks.
The former governor declared it a “wake-up call” after Farmers Insurance announced it would drop policies in Florida.
“When a company leaves a state, that’s a wake-up call,” Scott said. “They must have made the decision that that legislation wasn’t going to help them.”
“I fixed it when I was governor. You have to fight it every year. And if you don’t, you get exactly what you’ve gotten right now,” he continued.
Florida lawmakers approved legislation within recent years, attempting to combat the rising premiums with policies that incentivize companies to do business in the state. Part of the legislation included eliminating one-way attorney fees in an effort to get rid of those “frivolous” lawsuits.
Following Farmer’s announcement, the Florida House speaker said the decision to withdraw was not due to recent reforms, while Democrats claimed the reforms did not work.
2024 campaign trail
Despite recent media speculation of a presidential run, Scott is running for reelection to the Senate.
Before Scott became senator, he served two terms as the governor of Florida. When running for governor, he said the biggest issue at the time was jobs.
“So when I ran for the senate, I said, ‘we’re going to have to change the way Washington works,’ and that’s what I’m still doing,” Scott said.
“Washington, as you can watch, is very dysfunctional. So that’s what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the things that I’ve been trying to do to fix Washington,” Scott explained.
“Think about it – we are running trillion dollar deficits. There’s no bills that we actually vote on that actually solves a problem,” Scott said.
“We spend money without any accountability,” he said.
When he isn’t in Washington, Scott said he is traveling the state and “listening to issues,” and “talking about what I’m doing to try to fix them.”
Republicans widening voter registration lead
According to newly released data in July, Florida Republicans now boast a more than 541,000 voter registration lead over Democrats.
Scott said he believes it is a sign that the public is “rejecting their policies.”
“Their policies are not working,” Scott told Florida’s Voice.
The prime reason for the lead expansion for the Florida GOP is the massive losses among Democrats compared to Republicans, the data shows.
Since November 2022, just as Gov. Ron DeSantis was reelected by more than 19 points, Democrats lost over 247,000 voters while Republicans lost over 62,000.
Over that time frame, Republicans’ lead over Democrats expanded by over 185,000 voters.
Republicans expanded the gap by over 45,000 voters in just one month.
Scott was asked whether he would support former President Donald Trump or DeSantis for president.
“I’m not endorsing,” he said. “I’m focused on my race.”
‘Rescue America’ plan
Scott said he is still pushing the Rescue America plan, which made news last February after some congressional leaders claimed the plan would “sunset” Medicare and Social Security.
“That was a lie by McConnell, Schumer, Pelosi, all of them… Biden. On the left, they lie. And McConnell, he didn’t like the fact that I didn’t work for him,” Scott said.
“He didn’t want to campaign on a plan. So what I was very clear in there was that Congress ought to tell you what they’re going to do to fix Social Security, Medicare,” he said.
The senator believes Congress should provide a report on what they will do to fix Social Security and Medicare. Scott said he questioned those in the Congressional Budget Office about the current process.
“So when you pass a bill, why don’t we review it at some point? That’s what I said about sunset,” Scott said. “But it was never to sunset Medicare and Social Security. I never proposed that.”
Biden claimed in February during a speech in Tampa that the GOP wanted to cut the programs.
“He wanted to sunset it,” Biden said at the time.
According to Scott’s website, he released his “Rescue America” plan last year, outlining points that should be taken to “save this country.”
The point Biden is referring to is number six, “Government Reform and Debt,” which lists the following as a point: “All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”
“I’ve never cut Social Security or Medicare or called for it and they know it. They are twisting words and being dishonest – as they do every time they speak,” Scott responded on Twitter at the time.
Response to antisemitic attacks: “It’s disgusting”
On the heel of Scott’s visit with the Israeli prime minister, Rep. Pramila, D-Wash., was criticized for calling Israel a “racist state.”
“What she said was hateful,” he said. “It’s disgusting. But you know, the reality is, that’s where the radical left is right now.”
He elaborated that there is “nothing” the government can do to solve hatred.
“What everybody ought to be doing is being very vocal,” the senator explained. “Teach your kids that that’s wrong.”
Scott’s strong support for Israel stems from its “thriving democracy” in the Middle East compared to Russia, North Korea and Iran.
“So when you have an ally like Israel that knows the importance of this, then you do everything you can to support them,” he elaborated.
