Rick Scott endorses Donald Trump for president, calls for party unity

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott has swung for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race, Florida’s Voice has confirmed.

Scott publicly announced his endorsement in an opinion piece for Newsweek.

“I know most of the candidates running for president, and I respect their decision to put themselves through this very difficult process,” Scott wrote. “Make no mistake: every single one of them would be a better president than Joe Biden.”

“But Republican voters are making their voices heard loud and clear. They want to return to the leadership of Donald Trump,” he wrote.

Announced Thursday morning, Scott’s endorsement comes just before the Republican Party of Florida’s Freedom Summit taking place over the weekend.

In his opinion piece, Scott pointed to criticisms of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy, such as the Afghanistan withdrawal where more than a dozen servicemembers were killed, along with “terrorists, criminals, and drugs pouring into our country.”

“Biden’s presidency has become an embarrassment to his political party and to our entire nation,” Scott wrote.

“I am optimistic that we can return America to its rightful position of economic and military strength and the undisputed moral leader of the free world, but only with strong leadership in the White House,” he continued. “That is why I support my friend President Donald J. Trump to be the 47th president of the United States and encourage every Republican to unite behind his efforts to win back the White House.”

The Florida senator’s endorsement also emerges after he praised Trump at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Summit last week, where he touted the former president as the most “pro-Israel” the White House has ever seen.

“The U.S. defeated ISIS, moved the U.S. embassy to its rightful home in Jerusalem and held vicious Iranian murders, like [Qasem] Soleimani, accountable for the American lives they had taken,” Scott said.

Scott will be on the general election ballot in Florida alongside Trump in 2024, should the former president win the Republican nomination.

Trump is ahead in the national RealClearPolitics primary polling average by nearly 46% as of early-November. He hit another all-time high at 59.3%.

Florida has trended further red since 2016, when Trump won the state narrowly. Gov. Ron DeSantis won the state in 2022 by nearly 20%.

On the presidential race, Scott’s campaign earlier this year pushed back on a New York Times report that alleged he was planning for a late entry into the race.

Scott announced his run for reelection in January.

The Florida Freedom Summit runs on Saturday, Nov. 4, and tickets start at $125.

All of the major 2024 Republican presidential candidates are speaking at the event, including DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Scott will be speaking at the event as well.

A plethora of other Trump-backers are listed as speakers, such as Florida Republican Reps. Mike Waltz, Matt Gaetz, Byron Donalds and Cory Mills, along with state Rep. Randy Fine of Melbourne Beach, who recently flipped to Trump.

DeSantis-backers at the event include Lt. Gov Jeanette Nuñez and Attorney General Ashley Moody.