Governor Rick Scott...
...
We have been told that Governor Scott
will not be participating in this debate.
That’s Rick Scott.
Or lack thereof.
Governor Crist has asked to have a fan, a small fan placed underneath his podium.
And Governor Scott, why the delay in coming out over a fan?
I waited to-
be-
till we figured out if he was going to show up.
He said he wasn’t going to come to the uhh-
uhh he said he was going to come to the debate-
Now that's Rick Scott.
he’s the Governor of Florida and at President Trump’s urging, possible Senate candidate.
At a certain point it ends for you and we can’t let it end.
So I hope he runs for Senate.
Scott was born in Bloomington, Illinois in 1952, but grew up in Kansas City, Missouri.
Long before he became Governor of Florida,
Scott attended community college...for a year.
He then enlisted in the Navy where he served two and a half years as a radioman on a frigate.
I had a great experience.
When he returned, he attended college at University of Missouri-Kansas City through the G.I. bill.
On the side, he worked in a grocery store and owned two donut shops,
which his mother managed while he was busy earning a bachelor’s degree
in business administration.
But Scott couldn’t resist the glamorous world of the for-profit hospital industry for long:
At 34, he co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation which, in 1994,
merged with Hospital Corporation of America to create world’s biggest hospital chain.
Just years later, he was forced to resign after allegedly overseeing
what has been called the largest Medicare fraud in U.S. history.
After his resignation, a federal investigation found the company guilty of medicare fraud.
The hospital chain ended up paying $1.7 billion to the U.S. Justice Department.
Critics claimed either Scott knew about the shady practices taking place,
or he didn’t know,
suggesting he was foolish and out of touch with the company.
Scott pleaded the 5th and got away scott free.
I don’t recall...
I wouldn’t know.
Well, what do you mean by occupancy?
I’m not sure what the definition is.
Say the question again.
What’s your definition of overcapacity?
He’s a good boy.
As Governor, he didn’t support medicaid expansion—
leaving hundreds of thousands of Floridians without coverage.
He was pressed on the subject at a Starbucks.
You cut medicaid so I couldn’t get Obamacare! You’re an a******!
During his tenure, he was also caught using private email—
hiding communication from the public.
They have discovered new emails.
[Audience Cheering]
To cover his legal fees, he used $700,000 in taxpayer’s money.
In 2016, he signed a law to cut state funding to clinics that perform abortions.
He was pressed on this issue at the same Starbucks from before.
You stripped women to access of public health care.
Shame on you, Rick Scott!
We depend on those services!
Scott left without a coffee.
He is skeptical about man-made climate change
and has reportedly even gone as far as barring employees for using the phrase.
According to a Rolling Stone article,
when scientists scored an interview with Scott to discuss climate change,
a scientist stated that “he just sat there and stared at us with lizard eyes.”
And then Hurricane Irma hit and it brought to light Rick Scott’s relationship with the climate.
He had a record of contributing $0 to Miami Beach’s $400 million plan to improve storm drainage,
and he took more than a million bucks from Big Utility who moved to stop solar power rooftops.
Scott’s predecessor signed an executive order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and mandated for more energy efficient building codes.
But when Scott took office, he dismantled that order.
Before hurricane Irma hit, Scott gave out his personal cell phone to Florida’s nursing homes
and assisted living facilities.
He told them to call if they experienced any problems.
And they did.
120 times according to phone records.
And just about all of them went straight to voicemail.
12 patients died of overheating in a nursing home that tried Scott’s phone three times.
[Crowd Cheering]
With the President’s help, Scott, if he decides to run for Senate,
could unseat Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.
We need a President who is politically incorrect and will tell it like it is.
In 2014, the NRA noted that Scott had signed more pro-gun bills into law in one term
than any other Governor in Florida history,
earning him an A+ grade from the organization.
That rating could go down drastically, though.
Scott has since signed the “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act,”
a bill sparked by the Parkland shooting.
The bill will raise the age limit to purchase a weapon from 18 to 21,
will require a three day waiting period for purchases, and will ban bump stocks.
While the bill toughens gun restrictions in many ways,
it allows some teachers to be armed if both the local school district and sheriff’s department agree,
and it fails to address the demand of many survivors for a ban on assault weapons.
Student activists from Stoneman Douglas called the move a “baby step”.
A big demand from the survivors of the Parkland shooting was to ban AR-15s,
which Scott’s bill doesn’t do.
If only Scott’s stance on guns was as strong as his stance on fans.