‘Crazy ideas’: Rick Scott continues crusade against calls to ‘defund the police’
Rick Scott. Image via AP.

Rick Scott 3.4.19
Fund the police, Senator says, or else anarchy is a given.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott continues to make political hay out of calls to defend the police, with a Tuesday interview on Fox News providing the latest platform.

The first-term Republican blasted the “idea that we’re going to get more security by getting rid of the police.”

“I never heard these crazy ideas when I was Governor. The left has gone off the deep end,” Scott said, apparently confusing the center-left appeals from Florida Democrats with the more robust suggestions offered on a national stage.

Scott cautioned, as he has for days, that he’s not excusing “bad actors” and “bad apples.”

“We’ve got to fund our police. Are there bad apples that do the wrong thing? Yes, absolutely,” Scott said. “We’ve got to get rid of them.”

Law enforcement, Scott added, is “disgusted by what happened” with George Floyd, thus far the only single victim of murder by cop that Florida’s junior Senator has acknowledged. But they still need money, he said.

“If you want anarchy, if you want more crime,” Scott added, “defund the police.”

The interview on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom delved into nuance, with Scott being reminded that not all calls to “defund the police” are literal, with some meaning that they simply want resource reallocation.

“If their idea is not to defund the police,” Scott said, “they shouldn’t say defund.”

“They can say that’s not exactly what they want,” the Senator added. “But that’s exactly what they’re saying.”

For Scott, calls to “defund the police” have offered a platform to stand in opposition to a position that seems to have more resonance as a protest slogan than a policy plank in divided Washington D.C.

“The single most ridiculous and irresponsible policy idea that has been suggested in my lifetime can be summed up in three words: ‘Defund the police.’ And yet, it is actually being discussed and debated as if there are pros and cons to it by those on the Left. There are no ‘pros’ to defunding the police. There are no coherent arguments for this lunacy.” Scott wrote in the Washington Examiner Monday.

“But defunding or disarming the police is not the answer. Simply put, it is a dangerous proposal driven by the radical Left whose agenda of ‘Medicare for all,’ the Green New Deal, open borders, and defunding law enforcement is being increasingly embraced by the leaders of the Democratic Party,” Scott added.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


3 comments

  • Sonja Fitch

    June 16, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    Bs goptrump nazi Scott!

  • Nick Whitehead

    June 17, 2020 at 7:06 am

    Sen. Prick Snott is a disgusting excuse for a human being. Despite caging a record numbers of Floridians while he was Governor, Scott himself stole more money from the sick, the poor and the elderly than every thief in Florida’s prisons combined. But Scott did not steal from some rich corporation and he didn’t to feed himself or his family, or even to feed some addiction. No, Scott stole from the elderly, the sick and the poor and he stole solely for greed. So obviously having a state that is hyper-policed has done zero good in catching even our biggest thief. No, Florida’s police prefer to send Floridians to prison for driving without a driver’s license, for smoking marijuana, for being homeless or having mental health issues. Disband all police and sheriff’s departments nationwide and jail Prick Snott.

  • Glenn Reihing

    June 20, 2020 at 9:44 am

    The caption to the picture accompanying this article should read:

    “Sen. Scott seen here devising ways on how to circumvent the law…AGAIN!!”

Comments are closed.


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