OXON HILL, Maryland — Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said he apologizes to “nobody” for challenging Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for Senate leadership, a move that earned him the ire of establishment figures in the Republican Party.
The Florida Republican didn’t mince words about his own party in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday. He unsuccessfully tried to take leadership of the Senate Republicans last fall after he blamed McConnell for the party’s underperformance in the midterm elections.
CPAC 2023: FIVE THINGS TO WATCH AS CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE RETURNS TO DC
“Establishment leaders from our own Republican Party caved in and gave the Democrats the votes to nail down victory after victory pass dangerous left-wing policy. That’s why last fall, I … committed the unpardonable sin in Washington: I challenged Mitch McConnell to be the leader of the Senate,” Scott said, adding, “Everybody [in] Washington said I’m nuts. I might be, but we cannot put up with this BS anymore. I think I’ve become the least popular person in Washington, and I’m happy to report that I’ve made a lot of progress. … I’d like to apologize to absolutely nobody.”
Scott, who was governor of Florida before entering the Senate in 2019, butted heads with McConnell throughout the 2022 midterm cycle. Scott released his own party agenda without McConnell’s approval and called out the minority leader for making comments about poor candidate quality on the Republican side. McConnell partially blamed Scott’s agenda for the GOP losing a Senate seat due to calling for five-year reviews of entitlement programs, which Democrats used to attack Republican candidates on the campaign trail as putting Social Security and Medicare at risk.
“Republicans come to Washington to change it, but some just stay way too long. They get comfortable,” Scott said at CPAC. “The New York Times pats them on the back and says, ‘Oh gosh, you do a great job. You’re one of those responsible Republicans.’ Gradually and sometimes quickly, Washington changes. To fit into Washington, to be part of the club, you have to forget what you ran on. You have to agree that failure is our only option.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Scott claimed McConnell booted him from the Senate Commerce Committee in retaliation for trying to oust him from leadership, a charge McConnell denies.
Other senators who spoke on the first day of CPAC were Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN.) The conservative gathering has returned to the Washington, D.C., area for the first time in two years after it was held in Florida during the coronavirus pandemic.
