Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
GOP Senate fundraising under Scott’s leadership
Many major U.S. corporations are halting contributions to all congressional Republicans who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, putting Florida Sen. Rick Scott in a potentially tough spot.
Scott was one of just eight senators who made objections to the election results, even after a pro-President Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Last Monday, he took over the GOP’s Senate campaign fundraising arm.
In a statement released by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Scott said he was ready to “get to work,” and that he believed the GOP could win back the soonto-be Democratic-controlled Senate in 2022.
But the progressive group American Bridge called for Scott to resign his new position, saying in a statement, “Every Republican senator who accepts help from the NRSC has blood on their hands as long as Rick Scott is chair.”
“Rick Scott is a disgrace who is more concerned about winning a presidential primary in four years than stopping further acts of violence,” American Bridge said. “Someone who so casually puts innocent lives at risk for his own personal ambitions has no business being in one of the top leadership positions in his party.”
Scott spokesman Chris Hartline responded, saying, “I have no doubt that Democrat groups in Washington are scared of Rick Scott taking over the NRSC. No, Senator Scott will not be resigning.”
Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, now a commentator for MSNBC, suggested it wouldn’t be possible for Scott to be a successful fundraiser.
“Someone who voted for the big lie, AFTER domestic terrorists tried an insurrection based on the big lie, is the new chair of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee,” she said. “Will corporate America write him checks?”
Scott had mostly avoided much of the pressure on Republican U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the architects of the objections to Biden’s wins in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
As many as 13 Senate Republicans had indicated they would join objections. But after the attack, several decided against it, including outgoing Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who had planned to contest her own state’s results.
Joining the eight GOP senators who ultimately voted to object to one or more states’ results were 138 House Republicans.
Scott said early Wednesday he was opposed to Pennsylvania extending the deadline for mail-in ballots, which he called “in defiance of state law. This is absurd, and cannot be tolerated.”
Since then, major companies have announced they would not contribute to Republicans.
Hotel giant Marriott was among the first, telling Bloomberg News, “We have taken the destructive events at the Capitol to undermine a legitimate and fair election into consideration and will be pausing political giving from our Political Action Committee to those who voted against certification of the election.”
Dow Chemical on Monday immediately halted all corporate and employee PAC contributions to any Congress member who voted to object to Biden’s win.
The company said the ban would be in place for the members’ next reelection cycle, which for Scott is 2024.
“Dow is committed to the principles of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power,” the company said in a statement.
On Monday, Airbnb’s political committee also said it would “update its framework and withhold support from those who voted against the certification of the presidential election results.”
In addition, major banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said they planned to pause all political contributions.
But Goldman told Politico and Bloomberg News that the halt will eventually be aimed at the objecting Republicans, and other banks indicated that would be the case for them as well.
“We want you to be assured that we will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law,” Candi Wolff, Citi’s head of global government affairs, said in a memo to employees according to Bloomberg News.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Commerce Bancshares also told website Popular Information they would stop contributing to Scott, Hawley, Cruz and the other Republicans.
Even so, Scott sounded optimistic in interviews with the Washington Post and Fox News.
“I’ve got my work cut out for me, but I’m excited,” Scott told the Post. In addition to Georgia and Arizona, “there [are] plenty of other states where there were close races in 2016 that we have a chance to get back.”
Scott said he did not regret his vote to reject Pennsylvania’s votes following the Capitol attack.
As for Trump’s culpability in inciting the attack, Scott told the Post, “I don’t think it’s fair to say that he told people to go break into the Capitol. But I think it is also fair to say he could have responded quicker to asking these thugs to stop.”