Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) suggested to former President Trump that he stay out of Senate primary races next year, during an interview on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show” on Tuesday.
Asked about what role he sees Trump playing during next year’s midterm elections, Scott said Trump will campaign for the candidates he supports, but suggested to the former president that he take his foot off the pedal during Senate primaries.
“Well I think he’s going to campaign for candidates that he believes in,” Scott said. “What I’ve suggested to him is to let the citizens in that state pick their primary winner. And then help those that win that he believes in.”
Scott went on to praise Trump for having the same grievances that he does, before adding that he looks forward to the former president “supporting the candidates that he likes.”
Scott’s remarks come a month after he awarded Trump with the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s first-ever “Champion for Freedom Award” on the same weekend the former president hurled insults at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) during the RNC’s spring donor retreat.
Amid rambling on about his usual grievances, Trump reportedly saved his most incendiary insults for McConnell, who he derided as a “dumb son of a bitch” for not opposing the November election results. The Senate minority leader initially scolded Trump on the Senate floor for inciting the mob behind the Capitol insurrection on the day of the joint session of Congress certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win.
“If that were [Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer] instead of this dumb son of a bitch Mitch McConnell they would never allow it to happen. They would have fought it,” Trump said, referring to the certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory, according to the Washington Post.
Scott, who chairs the NRSC, awarded Trump last month after making efforts to curry favor with the former president as he warred with the GOP’s traditional fundraising arm.
After Trump lawyers sent cease-and-desist letters to the NRSC, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee to stop using his name and likeness in their fundraising efforts, the NRSC sent Scott out to Mar-a-Lago to make nice with the former president. Trump and the NRSC chairman reportedly discussed how they could team up and find suitable candidates for the 2022 midterms that the former president could get behind, including incumbents.
A day after his Mar-a-Lago visit, Scott bragged about his “great meeting” with Trump in a tweet.
Listen to Scott’s remarks below:
