Scott/Nelson debate gets nasty, Kavanaugh hearing takes centerstage

The first U.S. Senate debate between Gov Rick Scott and Sen. Bill Nelson went off without a hitch over at Spanish-language Telemundo, and as expected, the barbs were flying.

Nelson called Scott a liar, and Scott called Nelson a do-nothing career politician.

Aside from their differences on all the issues, when it came to the ongoing Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, both men made their case for who they believed and supported, Judge Kavanaugh or Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

Scott called Nelson a partisan Senator and the hearing as being a “circus, and “more like a ‘Jerry Springer Show,” adding that Nelson had already stated he would oppose any Trump Supreme Court pick.

Here is what they said about the hearing:

Gov. Rick Scott

“The way the U.S. Senate has handled this, it’s a circus. It’s more like a ‘Jerry Springer Show.’ Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh are just pawns in some political game. Both of their testimonies were convincing and pure raw emotion. Your heart goes out to every one of them. Seventy-plus senators have met with Judge Kavanaugh. My opponent hasn’t. If you take all the evidence together and you take Judge Kavanaugh’s record as a judge. I’m going to continue to support Judge Kavanaugh.”

Sen. Bill Nelson

“The testimony of Dr. Ford was quite compelling. As a matter of fact, it was real. And she was expressing for millions of women in this country, the MeToo [movement], that sexual assault has happened to them. And she was doing that in front of 11 Republican men that seemed to dismiss it. I’m hopeful that the FBI investigation is going to bring circumstances to light. But the judge, in his response, there was just not the temperament that is needed. [for] the highest court in the land.”

Nelson’s comment about Kavanaugh’s “temperament” is one of the narratives Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to when he stated that Senate Democrats were trying to “move the goalposts” in the hearing.

The race between Scott and Nelson is considered a ‘toss-up,’ with polls showing that the two men are in a virtual tie.

Nelson says he will vote against Kavanaugh