Mar 05, 2024 - 14:55
By huffpost.com

Rick Scott Sits Down With Trump As He Mulls Entering Race To Succeed Mitch McConnell

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Monday held a meeting with former President Donald Trump as he is reportedly mulling entering the race to succeed Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as GOP Senate leader.

McConnell, 82 last week announced his decision to leave the post in November, putting an end date to his tenure as the longest-serving Senate leader in history.

Scott posted a photo with Trump Monday on X, formerly Twitter, writing it was “great” to meet the former president.

“We’re going to continue working together to win big in 2024 and fix Washington,” Scott wrote.

Scott endorsed Trump in the Republican primary contest in November. He has since told CNN’s Manu Raju that he would “absolutely” stand by the former president, who faces 91 criminal charges, even if he was convicted of a felony.

The Florida Republican, who launched an unsuccessful run against McConnell in 2022 following the party’s underwhelming performance in that year’s midterm elections,told “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast Friday he was “seriously considering” entering the contest.

“This is a big opportunity,” he said. “We could actually have somebody that actually believes in this country and believes in solving the problems of this country running the Senate when we get a majority in November.”

Scott willhold a press conference on Tuesday to discuss the future of the GOP Senate leadership race.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the Senate minority whip, confirmed on Monday that he is running for McConnell’s job. GOP Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) is the only other senator who has joined the contest so far, but John Barrasso (Wyo.) is also expected to soon announce his candidacy.