Scott campaign demands TV stations pull ad
Governor disputes claim that he cut general revenue funds for education
One day after the Andrew Gillum campaign demanded TV stations pull a GOP ad it said was libelous, Gov. Rick Scott’s U.S. Senate campaign is now sending out its own cease-and-desist letter demanding stations pull a Democratic ad.
Scott’s campaign issued a letter criticizing a Senate Majority PAC ad critical of Scott’s education record, claiming its contention that Scott cut state general revenue funds for education is “a blatant manipulation of the facts.”
The ad, “Cuts,” says Scott cut $1.3 billion from K-12 education, which did happen PolitiFact.
But the Scott campaign says that is different from cuts to general revenue funds and was due to federal decline in education funding in 2011 and 2012.
PolitiFact also called the cause and effect of corporations receiving tax breaks and the education cuts, in 2011, according to “murkier than the ad lets on.”
The letter also claims the charge that Scott cut $20 million from pre-K ignores funding growth since 2012.
The ad, the campaign says, comes at a time when Scott has been working to protect Floridians from Hurricane Michael.
“The juxtaposition of the current Governor, who has been imploring citizens to take measures to ensure their safety and the safety of their neighbors, next to that of the false and misleading Advertisement calling the Governor’s credibility into question, may suggest to your station’s viewers that the Governor is not to be believed on matters of public safety,” the letter warns.
Also on Friday, the liberal group VoteVets, which backs U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, launched an ad criticizing Scott’s past as CEO of the medical group Columbia/HCA, which was fined $1.7 billion for Medicare fraud.
“He wears that Navy hat everywhere he goes,” Navy veteran Alan Madison says in the ad. “Let me tell you what he did to veterans. His hospital company stole millions, defrauding the military’s health care program.”