TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Sen. Rick Scott says that despite his home-state governor running for president, backing Donald Trump for the Republican nomination again was a no-brainer for him.
“I have known Trump a long time before … I endorsed him in 2016, and I worked with him well when I was governor [of Florida] and in the Senate,” Scott told NBC News, in his first interview following his endorsement Thursday of Trump, which was first reported by The Messenger. “When you look at what is going on in the world today, this would not be happening if he was the president.”
“I think we all should come together and do everything we can to help him win the nomination so we can beat Biden,” he added.
Scott is backing Trump in a race that includes his successor as Florida governor, Ron DeSantis — but Scott and DeSantis have had tension in the past, and Scott has been longtime political allies with Trump.
In 2016, Scott was among the first Republican governors to endorse Trump, and he ran a pro-Trump super PAC that year as well. In addition, the two worked closely during the 2022 midterms, when Scott was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.