It was tempting to think that once the post-election drama subsided, and Republican officials started to resolve their intra-party differences, Sen. Rick Scott would start to focus less attention on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and more on governing, especially with his 2024 re-election campaign coming up.
But those assuming the feud would soon fade were mistaken. As Roll Call reported, those watching the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) received a timely reminder about their divisions yesterday.
… Scott took aim at his fellow Republicans. While he did not cite Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell by name, he criticized “establishment Republicans” that he said have repeatedly capitulated to Democrats.
“It’s not just the Democrats in Washington who are destroying our country,” the senator said. “You’ve heard the famous quote: We’ve met the enemy and he is us. Unfortunately, some of the leaders of our own Republican establishment, they’ve been in Washington way too long and they’ve forgotten why they came here. They’ve gotten used to caving in to the Democrats.”
The idea that McConnell is contributing to the destruction of the United States, and Scott sees him as an “enemy,” represents a new rhetorical escalation from the far-right Floridian.
And in case there were any doubts as to which of his GOP colleagues he was referring, The Hill’s report went on to quote Scott saying, “When I took on Sen. McConnell, I knew it would be hard, and I assumed I would have a hard time winning. But we have to start somewhere. Everyone in Washington said I was nuts, and I might be. But we can’t put up with this b.s. anymore.”
He added, “My belief is that my challenge to Sen. McConnell was not the end of something, it was the beginning of something.
From time to time, there will be interpersonal tensions between members of the same party who struggle to get along. But revisiting our earlier coverage, the burning fire of…
Read the full article here
