Scott touts ‘deal guy’ background in bid for Senate majority leader

Florida Sen. Rick Scott touted his experience in business when asked why his Republican colleagues should back him for Senate Majority Leader.

“I built businesses all my life,” Scott said during an appearance on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “I built the largest hospital company, I built a variety of manufacturing companies, I ran the state of Florida.”

The comments come as Scott finds himself in a three-way race to become the GOP Senate leader, battling fellow Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota for the job held by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., since 2007.

Scott, whose bid for the position is seen as a long shot by some observers, has earned the endorsement of Republican Sens. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida.

“I will be voting for my Florida colleague @ScottforFlorida to be our next Senate GOP leader,” Rubio said on X on Sunday.

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Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., speaks at a campaign watch party on election night, Nov. 5, 2024, in Bonita Springs, Fla.

But the Florida Republican is also seen by some as the friendliest candidate to President-elect Trump, something Hagerty noted when making his endorsement of Scott.

“Any leader of this new majority must be able to work hand-in-hand with President Trump to advance his America First agenda,” Hagerty posted to X on Sunday. “That’s why I want to see a Senate Majority Leader who can join me in embracing the Trump agenda, which will unify Senate Republicans. On Wednesday, I will be voting for Rick Scott.”

Scott himself hinted at the alignment with Trump during his appearance on “Sunday Morning Futures,” arguing that the Republican Senate should reflect the will of the voters.

“Washington ought to represent the Republican voters around the country,” Scott said. 

“We have a mandate for change … who is going to represent all the Republican voters? I ran two years ago because I knew we needed to make a change in the Senate.” he continued, referring to his failed 2022 attempt to oust McConnell for the Senate GOP’s top job “I’ve talked to my colleagues, I think everybody realizes we need to make a change. So the question is going to be: Who is going to make sure we get those things done?”

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Scott has expressed hope that Trump will publicly endorse his bid for the top job, though some reports have indicated the president-elect has been hesitant to weigh in on the race.

Thune, meanwhile, has encouraged Trump to stay out of the race.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh/File)

“Obviously, if he wants to, he could exert a considerable amount of influence on that, but honestly, I think my preference would be, and I think it’s probably in his best interest, to stay out of that,” Thune, who has at times had a rocky relationship with Trump, said during an appearance on CNBC last week.

“These Senate secret ballot elections are probably best left to senators, and he’s got to work with all of us when it’s all said and done,” Thune, who currently serves as Senate minority whip, added, “but whatever he decides to do, that’s going to be his prerogative, as we know.”

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Cornyn, who also previously served as the Senate’s GOP Whip, has touted he held the role when Trump’s tax cuts were passed through the Senate, arguing he would once again be able to work with the president-elect to help pass his agenda.

Republicans return to Washington this week, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is expected to host a forum with the candidates on Tuesday. The election, which is done by secret ballot, will take place on Wednesday with incoming GOP Sens.-elect Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Tim Sheehy of Montana and Jim Justice of West Virginia also being able to participate in the vote.

Only a simple majority is required for a winner to be chosen. If no candidate achieves a simple majority in the first round of ballots, the candidate with the least number of votes will be eliminated and there will be another round of voting between the top two candidates.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/File)

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Scott argued that a vote for him on Wednesday would be a vote for a candidate who could “bring people together.”

“What it’s going to take is somebody is going to take the time to sit down and bring people together. We’ve got to get, for a lot of things, 60 votes in the Senate, so we’ve got to have somebody that’s going to sit down with Democrats and say, ‘How do we balance a budget? How do we do these things?’” Scott said. “That’s all I’ve done. I’m a deal guy. That’s what I did all my life.”