Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s efforts to prevent a Republican triumph in the Senate this fall by tossing Republican contenders under the bus have been called “an astounding act of cowardice” and “treasonous to the conservative cause” by National Republican Senate Committee Chair Rick Scott.
Scott ripped against “many of the same people accountable for losing the Senate last cycle,” who are now trying to prevent the Republicans from regaining the majority by calling its candidates “fools,” in a short but fiery editorial piece released on Thursday.
Scott claimed that providing the Washington Post or the New York Times with anonymous statements to use in articles critical of Republicans is the same as cooperating with the Democratic National Committee. He agrees that they need to raise additional funds to push their candidates in order to compete with the awful candidates being put up by the Democrats. He went on to say that they should stop talking smack about their candidates if you really want to aid the Democrats. That’s hardly the behavior of a leader. And Republicans should have leaders who inspire their followers while also doing everything they can to help the team win.
Scott never calls McConnell out by name, but his writing makes it plain that he is dissatisfied with the leader’s recent attacks on the party he serves.
Scott’s criticism follows Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s recent comments that Republicans have a “very small chance” of regaining control of the upper chamber.
According to McConnell, the chances of a change in the House are higher than in the Senate. Unlike House races, Senate contests are decided on a statewide basis. The success or failure of the process is heavily dependent on the quality of the candidates.
Scott thinks this is a justification to continue criticizing Republican candidates and voters.
Scott said that when people say things like, “They have lousy candidates,” they are really indicating that they have disdain for the voters who chose such politicians. Now they’ve arrived at the meat of the problem. The majority of Washington’s talking heads look down on Republican supporters and secretly, or not-so-secretly, despise them.
According to Scott, the DC establishment thinks it should be in charge of deciding election results rather than the voters themselves.
Scott wrote that the Washington, DC Swamp shouldn’t pick candidates because they don’t and won’t. He went on to say that his election was met with strong opposition from the Swamp.
Scott claims that it is premature for the Washington doubters and their anonymous quotations to write out the Republican party’s chances.
“We will beat the Democrats, and we will take control of the Senate this fall. Write it down,” Scott wrote. “… Yes, I’m an optimist. And I’m a cheerleader for our candidates. And I get a lot of crap for it from the D.C. crowd who tell me I shouldn’t sound so bullish or I should do more to set expectations. I’m not playing that game because each one of our candidates presents a stark contrast to the failed agenda of Biden and the Democrats.”
Scott has not been shy about going around other members of the Republican leadership in the past when he felt the need to express his opinion.
The @FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago is incredibly concerning, especially given the Biden admin’s history of going after parents & other political opponents. This is 3rd World country stuff.
We need answers NOW. The FBI must explain what they were doing today & why.
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) August 9, 2022
Scott was the first Republican in Senate leadership to express concern about the FBI raid on former President Trump, saying, “incredibly concerning, especially given the Biden admin’s past of going after parents & other political rivals.” This was after Mitch McConnell and other top GOP senators remained silent for more than 24 hours.
“This is 3rd World country stuff. We need answers NOW. The FBI must explain what they were doing today & why,” Scott tweeted.