With the November presidential election just under eight months away, candidates for elected office are ramping up attacks against one another. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), in his senatorial reelection campaign against former Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), recently suggested she would vote in favor of illegal immigrants against the interests of Americans.
For context, Sen. Scott highlighted a recent effort by Senate Republicans to exclude illegal immigrants from the census as part of the spending package passed by the Senate.
51 Democrats voted against it, killing the measure 51-45.
"In the midst of the worst border crisis we've ever seen, Democrats are voting to actively entice illegal aliens to break into America. In addition to wanting to give them amnesty, healthcare, and jobs that displace American workers, Democrats now want to entice them with political power," Sen. Scott stated.
As a result, Scott questioned Mucarsel-Powell's supposed moderate stance by asking if she, as "[Senator Chuck] Schumer's (D-NY) hand-picked candidate in Florida, would have voted with every one of her Democrat colleagues. Would she stand with Floridians or illegal aliens?"
Scott's spokesman Will Hampson further suggested, "Congresswoman Mucarsel-Powell has time and time again stood with illegal aliens over Floridians. The people of Florida deserve to know if she would vote with all her Democrat colleagues to further make a mockery of our laws. Her record of being a rubber stamp for Joe Biden should answer that for us."
Since Mucarsel-Powell challenged Scott for his Senate seat in August, he has maintained a line of attack against her as a "radical" due to her voting record aligning "100% with [Representative] Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)."
"Centrist? That was only for the campaign. Not when [she] voted," Scott told The Floridian.
In September, as Mucarsel-Powell received endorsements from Representatives Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and Darren Soto (D-FL), Scott suggested this vindicated his claims.
More recently, the former Florida Congresswoman campaigned with Rep. Frost, who has been in favor of defunding the police, in January. The Florida Senator responded, "Well, that must be her position. She must hate the police. She’s a radical. She clearly wouldn’t represent where the state is. We actually like law enforcement. We like our individual rights."
