Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, condemned Democrats for holding up the $2 trillion coronavirus aid package over unrelated wish-list items on climate change, corporate diversity and voter registration, saying that they “don’t care.”
“They don’t care. This is why they should never — the Democrats should never, ever be in charge of anything, because they don’t care about the American public,” Mr. Scott said Tuesday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”
In the radio interview, Mr. Scott referred to then-Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s famous 2008 quote, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”
“They care about their liberal agenda, and they’re going to do everything they can do, they’re going to do exactly what Rahm Emanuel said: They’re not going to let a crisis go to waste,” Mr. Scott said. “And they’re going to try to, you know, put on Americans a whole bunch of their liberal policies.”
Senate Democrats have twice blocked votes on the coronavirus financial-assistance bill, calling it a “slush fund” aimed at bailing out corporations.
Meanwhile, Republicans have accused Democrats of seeking to stuff the measure with renewable-energy tax credits; emissions mandates on the aviation and cruise industries; diversity requirements for corporate boards, and early voting and same-day voter registration.
Mr. Scott said the bill was urgently needed to help workers who have lost jobs and small businesses at risk of failing as the coronavirus quarantines shut down economic activity.
“It’s a tough life for these people right now,” Mr. Scott said. “And then you watch the Democrats. They don’t care. ‘We’ve got some liberal stuff we’ve got to get done here, so we’re going to hold everybody up. We don’t want to help people.’ “
“They don’t care. This is why they should never, the Democrats should never, ever be in charge of anything, because they don’t care about the American public.” Audio/transcript of this AM intv w/ @SenRickScott https://t.co/6s3tFhisQt
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) March 24, 2020
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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