Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) defended Republican Senate candidates against “treasonous” party members who have questioned the chances of a GOP takeover of the upper chamber in the midterm elections.
Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, blasted fellow Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), for both anonymous and on-the-record comments about how subpar “candidate quality” may keep Republicans from winning the majority. McConnell and Scott have feuded over election strategy in the months leading up to the midterm elections.
“Unfortunately, many of the very people responsible for losing the Senate last cycle are now trying to stop us from winning the majority this time by trash-talking our Republican candidates,” Scott wrote in an opinion piece for the Washington Examiner. “It’s an amazing act of cowardice, and ultimately, it’s treasonous to the conservative cause. Giving anonymous quotes to help the Washington Post or the New York Times write stories trashing Republicans is the same as working with the Democratic National Committee.”
McConnell said last week that he thinks “there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate” and that “candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.” Though Scott didn’t mention McConnell by name, he pushed back on the Senate’s top Republican in his op-ed, saying, “That’s not what leaders do. And Republicans need to be leaders that build up the team and do everything they can to get the entire team over the finish line.”