‘I Hope This Man Right Here, Rick Scott, Runs for the Senate’ President Says
President Donald Trump Thursday morning after landing in Florida spoke with reporters and on national television said Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, should run for the U.S. Senate – presumably challenging sitting Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, who is up for re-election next year. The Florida governor has been unpopular throughout his tenure but is seeing his popularity grow. Scott is now term-limited and cannot again run for re-election.
“I have to say, what do I know, but I hope this man right here, Rick Scott, runs for the Senate,” Trump said on-camera to the Republican governor. “I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I know that at a certain point, it ends for you, and we can’t let it end.”
But the president was on a taxpayer-funded trip and serving as the president during an official White House visit. There are norms – not to mention laws – that specify how executive office employees can operate. The president is not subject to the Hatch Act, which bars executive office employees from using their office or speaking in their official capacity to campaign for candidates, but it is at best unseemly.
Last month Trump went even further, telling Americans in Missouri that if their Democratic senator, Claire McCaskill, who he mentioned by name, did not vote for his tax cut bill they should vote her out.
“Your Senator, Claire McCaskill, she must do this for you, and if she doesn’t do it for you, you have to vote her out of office,” Trump said.
That led some, including the former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, to note that the Republican National Committee should have paid for the trip, not the taxpayers.
Pfeiffer again weighed in today:
Like Pfeiffer, others noted the inappropriateness of Trump comments.
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