National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott (R-FL) predicted that the GOP would pick up at least two seats in the U.S. Senate during this week’s midterm elections.
Scott, who made the remarks during an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” said he believes that the Republican Party is going to have a “great night.”
“We’re going to get 52-plus. We’re going to win Pennsylvania. We’re going to win Wisconsin.” Scott said.
“We have great candidates. People are showing up to vote. There’s no energy on the Democrat side,” he continued. “This election is about the Biden agenda. People don’t like high inflation, high crime, open borders, fentanyl. That’s what we’re talking about. So Mehmet Oz is going to win, Ted Budd’s going to win, Herschel Walker’s going to win, Adam Laxalt is going to win. I think we have a really good shot in Arizona, I think we have a shot – a real good shot in New Hampshire. I think we have a shot in Washington and Colorado. We maybe even have a shot — depends on the voters — in Connecticut. Think about it: half of the Democrats’ seats, we are in the hunt to win. So we’re going to get 52-plus.”
Scott later added that the issues are on the Republicans’ side and that the NRSC “explained exactly who the Democrats were, we did the first day I started in this job, and we’ve done it all along.”
WATCH:
WATCH: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) says Republicans "explained exactly who the Democrats were."@ScottforFlorida: "We have great candidates, the issues are on our side, and we've defined, we did our job at the NRSC, we explained exactly who the Democrats were." pic.twitter.com/YVmp2QJgxN
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 6, 2022
TRANSCIPT:
CHUCK TODD: And now I want to bring in Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida, he’s in charge of getting Republicans elected to the Senate. He chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and he joins me now. Senator Scott, welcome back to Meet the Press, sir.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Well, congratulations on 75 years.
CHUCK TODD: I appreciate that, 3,600 episodes and then some. Let me start with this –
SEN. RICK SCOTT: That’s right.
CHUCK TODD: You have not been shy about saying you believe Republicans are going to get 52 seats. Can you get 52 Senate seats without Pennsylvania?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Oh, I think we’re going to have a great night.
CHUCK TODD: Yeah. Can you do it without Pennsylvania?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: We’re going to get 52-plus. We’re going to win Pennsylvania.
CHUCK TODD: I understand you believe you are.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: We’re going to win Wisconsin.
CHUCK TODD: Do you believe you’re going to get to 52? Can you get it without it?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Oh, absolutely. I mean, look, here’s where we are right now. We’re going to win – we’re going to Wisconsin, Ron Johnson’s run a great race. First off, just stop and think about it. We have great candidates. People are showing up to vote. There’s no energy on the Democrat side. This election is about the Biden agenda. People don’t like high inflation, high crime, open borders, fentanyl. That’s what we’re talking about. So Mehmet Oz is going to win, Ted Budd’s going to win, Herschel Walker’s going to win, Adam Laxalt is going to win. I think we have a really good shot in Arizona, I think we have a shot – a real good shot in New Hampshire. I think we have a shot in Washington and Colorado. We maybe even have a shot — depends on the voters — in Connecticut. Think about it: half of the Democrats’ seats, we are in the hunt to win. So we’re going to get 52-plus.
CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you – Yeah. Let me ask you about Arizona and New Hampshire. You didn’t put them in your win category yet. You put them in the “you think you have a shot there.” Coincidentally or not, those are the two seats that Senator McConnell’s super PAC chose to pull out of, and not invest in. In hindsight, was that a mistake?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Well, we’ve invested. We’ve invested all along. I’ve always believed Blake Masters has every reason to believe he can win. He’s run a great race. We’ve defined Kelly as somebody that has voted against the border in Arizona three times, he’s always voted with Schumer and Biden. And then we’ve got Hassan who has a very difficult time up there because she’s voted basically 100% with the Democrats. And so I think – I think Don Bolduc’s got a really good chance of winning. Actually, if I was predicting now, I believe we’re going to win both Arizona, I believe we’re going to win New Hampshire.
CHUCK TODD: If you come up short in the Senate and Arizona and New Hampshire are the reason, whose fault is that?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Well, I don’t believe we’re going to come up short. I believe we’ve got great candidates. I think the issues are on our side. We did our job at NRSC, we explained exactly who the Democrats were, we did the first day I started in this job, and we’ve done it all along. So I don’t think we have that risk, I think we’re going to win.
CHUCK TODD: All right. Let’s assume you’ve got the majority. I’m going to take you at your word. You’re going to get the House, you’re going to get the Senate. What’s the first bill a Republican Congress sends to the president’s desk that you actually think he would sign?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: I think the issue is we’ve got to deal with inflation, so we’ve got to figure out how to spend our money wisely so we don’t continue this inflation. I think we’ve got to do whatever we can to get this crime rate down. So I think we have to look at that. We’ve got to secure the border. I think we’ve got to get rid of the 87 IRS agents – 87,000 new IRS agents. So I think we have to address the issues that people are worried about right now, and they’re worried about those issues, the fentanyl. So I think that’s what we need to focus on. So we’ve got to make sure our military is focused on being lethal, not woke. So I think those are the things that we have to focus on.
CHUCK TODD: Well, let me ask you, inflation, you saw that’s the biggest – that’s the number one issue people are dissatisfied with this economy. What’s the first bill you guys can pass that you think can impact inflation?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: I think the thing we have to work on – on inflation, it’s all tied to reckless government spending. We’ve got to get our budget in control, we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to balance the budget. So that’s the first thing we have to do. We have to get –
CHUCK TODD: It doesn’t really sound like — I don’t mean to –
SEN. RICK SCOTT: We have to get our spending under control.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: I did as governor, I balanced the budget for eight years, we’ve got to keep doing it.
CHUCK TODD: All the experts – Yeah, all the experts say legal immigration’s the number one thing we need to deal with in Congress in order to deal with inflation. Everything else is on the Fed, but that’s the number one issue. Are you guys going to deal with that?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Yeah. I hope we deal with first securing the border, figure out how we have legal immigration where people who want to live our dream can come in here. But I think, let’s go back: We have got to figure out how to spend our money better. We’ve got to figure out, how do we get to a balanced budget and preserve the programs we care about? That’s what we have to do. If we don’t, we’ll never get inflation under control.
CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you, you’ve been asked a million different ways about Social Security, you know the Democrats want to bring this issue up. Sunsetting the program every five years for renewal, why do that? Why put Social Security into, sort of, the political arena every five years? Why put seniors through that? Why do you think that’s a good idea?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: I have no interest in changing the Medicare program. I want to make sure we preserve the benefits of Medicare and Social Security, and I don’t know one Republican that wants to change that. In my plan, I said we have got to start being honest with the public that, “What’s our plan?” Medicare is going bankrupt, Social Security is going bankrupt. Here’s what the Democrats did: they just cut $280 billion, every Democrat that’s running right now in the Senate, okay? And those in the House. They all voted to cut $280 billion out of Medicare, which is going to cut life-saving drugs. They did this. Joe Biden proposed doing this in the Senate, and –
CHUCK TODD: You know, you’re playing a math game.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: And, on top of that, he didn’t pay his taxes. Say it again?
CHUCK TODD: You are playing a math game there, Senator. Senator, you’re playing a math game here. You’re playing a math game. They didn’t cut anything on Medicare. It’s cost savings having to do with the prescription drug benefit. Look, I understand that you want to call it something else. But they didn’t cut Medicare.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Chuck, if you cut spending in Medicare, it’s probably going to impact the ability for somebody to provide things. When you cut out $280 billion –
CHUCK TODD: I will remember that, when you guys argue that a Medicare cut –
SEN. RICK SCOTT: –there’s a lifesaving drug that your mom will not get. That’s what’s going to happen.
CHUCK TODD: All right. I will remember this when you guys claim a Medicare cut isn’t a cut.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Chuck, it’s $280 billion of spending – $280 billion out of the Medicare reduction is going to cut life-saving drugs. That’s bad for citizens, it’s real simple.
CHUCK TODD: All right, I want to ask you something that Marjorie Taylor Greene said at a Trump rally four days ago, take a listen.
[START TAPE]
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD: Senator, is she right?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: I think we have to continue to do everything we can to support Ukraine, who wants to defend their freedom and stop Russia from continuing to expand. I don’t want to end up in a war with Russia. If we don’t stop – if we don’t continue to help Ukraine the right way, we can’t waste our dollars, then they’re going to be in Poland, or some other country where we will be at war because they’re part of our NATO alliance. So I want to figure out, how do we make sure that Ukraine can defend their freedom and we stop Russia?
CHUCK TODD: A couple of quick questions about your future. If Republicans gain the Senate majority do you plan to run for leader?
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
I’m not focused on anything except getting a majority Tuesday night. Everybody wants to ask me about a bunch of things that are going to happen after Tuesday night.
CHUCK TODD: That’s a non-answer. That’s a non-answer.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: My whole focus is Tuesday night.
CHUCK TODD: So leave it out there, it’s a possibility?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: I’m going to focus on Tuesday night.
CHUCK TODD: It’s a possibility. All right.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: I’m focused on what I get done Tuesday night.
CHUCK TODD: Former President Trump has hinted he may announce in eight days. If he’s an active candidate for president, are you supporting him?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: There’s going to be a lot of people who will probably announce. We’ll watch what happens. I’m focused on getting a majority in the Senate.
CHUCK TODD: And before I let you go, are you going to accept the results of all the Senate elections on Tuesday night?
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Absolutely. But what we’re also going to do is do everything we can to make sure to everybody they’re free and fair, and if there’s any shenanigans, we are ready to make sure – we make sure we support our candidates to make sure that these elections are fair and every ballot is counted the right way.
CHUCK TODD: But it sounds like you’re pretty confident that everything is going to be on the up-and-up, doesn’t it?
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
We’re going to try – we’re going to try our best. I’m so disappointed the Democrats don’t want to have voter ID, you have it for everything else. We shouldn’t have ballot harvesting, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure this election is free and fair, and we’ve got to keep improving our election laws every year that we can.
CHUCK TODD: Senator Rick Scott, Republican from Florida, head of the NRSC.
SEN. RICK SCOTT: Happy birthday.
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