Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Co., said Sunday he empathized with Florida Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott, who condemned “unethical liberals” for trying to “steal” his contested election against Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
“I understand Gov. Scott’s frustration that there are people who are breaking the law, violating the constitution in Florida in Broward County, in Palm [Beach County]. And so I think he’s right to be upset,” Gardner, who heads the National Republican Senate Committee, said during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “Now what we have to do, though, is make sure that we are protecting the integrity of this election.”
Gardner’s rhetoric quickly drew fire from critics, including Neera Tanden, who is president of a liberal think tank and a longtime confidante of Hillary Clinton.
“This is an outrageous lie by Gardner. Let’s spend the next two years organizing to defeat @CoryGardner. Who is with me?” she tweeted.
This is an outrageous lie by Gardner. Let’s spend the next two years organizing to defeat @CoryGardner. Who is with me? https://t.co/GmpxhE7wkj
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) November 11, 2018
Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, a Scott appointee, ordered recounts Saturday for the Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner elections in the Sunshine State following unofficial results showing the races were within the margin to trigger another inspection.
Ballot-counting issues have been reported in Broward County, a Democratic stronghold that was critical to the 2000 presidential election recount, and Palm Beach County. But Florida Department of Elections staffers told the Miami Herald on Saturday that there was no evidence of criminal activity in the way that Broward County managed the elections.
Scott and the National Republican Senatorial Committee last week successfully sued Broward County’s supervisor of elections, Brenda Snipes, after they claimed she had been unwilling to release information about the number of votes cast and how many ballots had yet to be counted. Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips found that Snipes had violated Florida’s public records laws and the state constitution, and ordered Snipes to disclose the data.
“Every Floridian should be concerned there may be rampant fraud happening in Palm Beach and Broward Counties,” Scott said Thursday when announcing the lawsuit. “We’ve all seen the incompetence and the irregularities in vote tabulations in Broward and Palm Beach for years. Well, here we go again. I will not sit idly by while unethical liberals try to steal this election from the great people of Florida.”
