By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON – He’s a wealthy Floridian who has taken aim at fellow Republicans while pushing to consolidate power in Washington, and his name is not Donald Trump.
But like the president-elect, Rick Scott could be in a position to push the country sharply to the right if Republicans in the U.S. Senate elect him as their leader on Wednesday.
Scott, 71, is a relative newcomer to the Senate who lacks leadership experience, fundraising clout and personal alliances compared to his more tradition-minded rivals for the job, Senators John Thune and John Cornyn.
Instead, he is campaigning as a loyal lieutenant of Trump, banking that outside pressure from Trump allies like Elon Musk will win over his fellow senators.
“I believe I’m going to win because I represent exactly what the Trump team wants and what Trump wants,” Scott said on Fox News on Monday.
That would be a sharp contrast with the current Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, who has had a distant relationship with the once and future president.
Scott has frequently criticized McConnell as too cautious and insufficiently conservative and challenged him for the job in 2022. He lost by a vote of 37-10.
A Scott spokesperson declined to respond to a request for comment.
Scott faced blowback from other Republicans when he oversaw their unsuccessful effort to win a majority in that year’s congressional elections, as McConnell said he should have recruited better candidates. Scott also released a policy agenda that proved to be a liability, when Democrats pointed out it would raise taxes and expose the popular Social Security and Medicare benefit programs to cuts.
But Scott has the backing of other hardline conservatives in the Senate who have chafed under McConnell’s leadership, as well as influential voices such as Fox News personality Sean Hannity. His ties to Trump doubtless help as well — Scott was the first senator to attend Trump’s criminal hush-money trial in New York this spring, and Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, previously managed one of his campaigns.
“Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump,” conservative commentator Tucker Carlson wrote on X on Saturday. “Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott.”
First elected in 2018, Scott is a relative newcomer to the Senate, unlike Thune and Cornyn, who each have served for about two decades. He was previously Florida governor for two terms, during which he cut spending, expanded school voucher programs and killed a high-speed train proposal, while winning praise for his response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Scott won both governors’ races and his first Senate race narrowly, spending tens of millions of dollars of his own money each time. He has a personal fortune of at least $200 million, according to Senate records.
He easily won re-election to the Senate earlier this month, defeating Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by 56% to 43%.
Before entering politics, Scott founded what would become the nation’s largest healthcare company, Columbia/HCA, with 340 hospitals and 285,000 employees. He was forced out during a fraud investigation that eventually led to a $1.7 billion fine, the biggest healthcare penalty in history up to that point.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)
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