Rick Scott's One-Man Rally for Trump Exposes GOP Abandonment

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/heather-digby-parton/110372/rick-scott-s-one-man-rally-for-trump-exposes-gop-abandonment

Rick Scott’s One-Man Rally for Trump Exposes GOP Abandonment
by Heather Digby Parton | May 12, 2024 - 6:17am

— from Salon


snip//

The lawyer who has lost several cases for Trump but who defends him vociferously on TV, Alina Habba, has appeared in the courtroom. And on Thursday former judge and current Fox News member of "The Five," Jeanine Pirro was in attendance. The big name of the day, however, was Florida Senator Rick Scott who went the extra mile and held a press conference where he compared Trump to himself:

Link to tweet

Scott's company paid $1.7 billion in fines to settle charges of rampant Medicare fraud, at the time the largest ever imposed, and Scott has previously said, “I take responsibility for what happened on my watch as CEO.” Today he says he's a victim of the deep state.

The ambitious senator is said to be angling for the VP slot or Senate majority leader and he knows that whining like a five-year-old about being victimized is the quickest way to Donald Trump's heart. Scott's the first contender to be there in his time of need and I'm sure Trump noticed. If the rest of them haven't figured out by now that job one is defending Dear Leader and singing his praises then they'd better just take their names off the list right now. Look for the whole crew to traipse up there over the next few weeks. Donald Trump needs cheering up and nothing makes him happier than lackeys begging for his favor.

[Chainfire]

1. Of course, Rick, it has nothing to do with lawbreaking the Democrats just don't want him on the ballot.

Just a witch hunt, Rick. Scott knows that Trump is a criminal, he just doesn't care. Florida has sent the worst trash of the state to represent us. It is amazing to me how many horrible politicians that we have sent to Tallahassee and Washington. As a lifetime Floridan citizen it makes me deeply ashamed of my state and our people.

If you want to see what blooming fascism looks like, go East until you smell it and South until you step in it.

[Timeflyer]

12. Bravo on your last sentence--sadly true, and I'm stealing it.

[Johonny]

2. Political persecution getting caught

Business leaders like Scott think everyone else commits fraud, so its okay. They think all wealth is built on cheating the system. And when the legal system catches up to one of the elite, it's not fair. Meanwhile, he will shove imaginary immigrant crime fantasies down voter's throats.

[jaxexpat]

10. You have it nailed in a nutshell, Johonny.

"Business leaders..................think everyone else commits fraud, so it's okay. They think all wealth is built on cheating the system."

Words of fact so profoundly true they should be the preamble to any treatise on, or discussion about, American capitalism.

[RockRaven]

3. We would have a better country, government, economy if we

put more billion-dollar-fraud-CEOs (and other executives) in jail for a long fucking time instead of just fining the company billions.

But that isn't how the wealthy want it (it could happen to one of them!), and who do the politicians really work for after all?

[malaise]

4. And until that happens

It’s rule by oligarchs and plutocrats.
Rick Scott ‘s name should be nowhere near a ballot form

[DFW]

5. Maybe Rick Scott figures it this way:

He buys his way to the nomination as Trump's VP. He then buys the election for Trump. He then gets Trump declared as mentally incompetent to serve as president (talk about an argument that will get little to no resistance from anyone!), and takes over the Oval Office himself, instituting corruption 2.0 as the law of the land.

[patphil]

9. Senator Scott is up for reelection this year, so I'm not sure he'd risk being Trump's VP candidate.

The Florida Congressional Primary is a month after the Republican National Convention, so it's possible Scott could try for the VP slot, and if he doesn't get it, he's still a sure bet to be the Senatorial candidate.
But if he gets the VP slot, and Trump loses, Scott's out of a job.

[DFW]

13. I don't know the Florida law on that

In some states, you can run for both and then take the one you did win if you lost the other.

[patphil]

14. I have no idea if he can do that either.

It's interesting to note that he only won his Senate seat by about 10,000 votes in 2018.
If he's on the ticket with Trump as his VP, it's very possible that enough people won't vote for him on the Senate line that it will make it easy for a Democrat to win.
It's even possible he wouldn't win the Senate Primary because of concerns that he would jeopardize a Republican Senate seat if he was running with Trump as VP.

[cojoel]

6. If Trump is considered to be from Florida

than Scott is out as the VP nominee because he would have to be from a different state.

[Simeon Salus]

15. You are correct. POTUS and VPOTUS cannot be elected from the same state.

But there are lots of other cabinet positions (and by cabinet positions I mean vacuum hoses out of our treasury) Scott might use to raise his national visibility (and Fox Q-ratings).

Remember these folks are also auditioning for prime time speaking spots at the convention. Everybody hopes to pull an Obama.

Scott could do a great job wrecking (and looting) Heath and Human Services, as an example. He's made a career out of it to date. His appointment to HHS would be a gigantic f%&k you to the department. Poking at the libs is a campaign issue.

[oasis]

7. Scott trio of Trump ass wipes

Rick Scott, Tim Scott and Scott tissue.

[Blue Owl]

8. Bat Boy sighted at Mag a Lardo

?1

[retread]

11. Lord Voldemort says what?