Rick Scott scolds Gavin Newsom for meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping
TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott Wednesday scolded California Gov. Gavin Newsom for meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
“What do Florida Dems think about their colleague smiling with a communist dictator?” Scott poised over a photo showing Newsom and Jinping in a handshake.
During the trip to China, Newsom visited Jinping to discuss climate action, according to the governor’s press release. Other priorities during Newsom’s visit included discussions on economic development and tourism and measures to combat xenophobia.
In a press release, Scott lamented Democrats over their policies on China while calling the Communist Party “our enemy.” Scott also criticized Florida Senate Democratic candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell over an argued lack of rhetoric on China.
“Is she [Debbie Mucarsel-Powell] ok with Democrat leaders meeting with a genocidal dictator who wants to destroy Americans’ way of life?” Scott questioned.
President Joe Biden is expected to meet with Xi Jinping next month. Scott iterated it was a “sign that Democrats will continue to coddle China even after everything China has done.”
Scott listed a number of grievances, including the CCP hacking 60,000 U.S. State Department emails and their brazen movement in the South China Sea against two Filipino vessels. Scott also mentioned the country’s record of human rights abuse.
A recent study outlined between 800,000 and 2 million Uyghur Muslims have been held in Chinese concentration prisons since 2017. Xinjiang, the location of the camps, is a Uyghur dominated region in northwestern China.
Former detainees of the camps have reported horrendous atrocities, including sexual abuse, forced abortions, and forced contraception. Uyghurs are also reportedly indoctrinated, including pledging their allegiance to China, reciting the national anthem, learning law, and renouncing Islam.
