Rick Scott “Has Used His NRSC Position” To Help Plot Presidential Campaign

Scott Wielding NRSC Role To Introduce Himself To Wealthy Donors, Travel To Early States, Stack Committee With Many Longtime Aides As Florida GOP Operative Notes Scott Is “Making All The Right Moves” For 2024

New reporting from the Miami Herald today details how Rick Scott is wielding his role as NRSC Chair to lay “the groundwork for a potential 2024 presidential run” as his self-serving political ambitions continue to take priority over the actual purpose of the job: winning Senate races in 2022. Scott is reportedly “laying the groundwork for a potential 2024 presidential run” in part by using his new position to staff the committee with many of his “longtime aides” and introducing himself to wealthy GOP supporters –– because he will “need help from national donors” to outspend his 2024 rivals. Scott is also campaigning in-person today in Iowa.

The NRSC Chair’s political aspirations are no secret –– one Florida GOP operative noted that “Scott is ‘making all the right moves’ to set himself up for a 2024 bid.” Scott’s self-interested political maneuvering has already caused a “rocky start” at the NRSC amid a series of stumbles including his controversial vote against Electoral College certification, his poorly received CPAC speech in Florida, and his failed effort to ‘cancel’ the GOP civil war. Those White House dreams are already causing problems for Senate Republicans, and Scott’s focus on his own political interests have left him “politically rudderless” as he struggles to navigate the dynamics of a messy election cycle filled with GOP retirements and a challenging map.

Read more about how Scott is using the NRSC for his own self-interest:

Miami Herald: Rick Scott heads to Iowa in new, powerful position defined by a familiar theme: money

• Rick Scott is laying the groundwork for a potential 2024 presidential run, and his path — if successful — will look a lot like his three statewide races in Florida.

• If he wants to outspend the 2024 competition, [Scott will] need help from national donors.

• Enter Scott’s new position in the U.S. Senate. Within two years of his arrival in Washington, Scott nabbed a leadership position as the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a job that enables him to be the money man for Senate Republicans.

• Scott now spends most of his time outside Washington traveling around the country to raise money… the behind-the-scenes donor work that can help build a presidential campaign… many of Scott’s longtime aides are now in Washington working at the NRSC.

• Scott, like most presidential hopefuls, isn’t publicly stating his intentions to run three years out… But Scott has used his NRSC position and relationship with Trump to position himself as a MAGA-friendly candidate who is also palatable to the GOP establishment.

• But the 2020 campaign didn’t go well for Senate Republicans. They lost their Senate majority and splintered into pro-Trump and pro-Mitch McConnell camps after rioters intent on overturning the 2020 election result stormed the U.S. Capitol.

• Amid the chaos, Scott has charted his own course.

• He is the only member of Senate GOP leadership to meet personally with Trump since he left office and was the only member of Senate GOP leadership to vote in favor of overturning election results in Pennsylvania.

• Alex Conant, who once worked as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s communications director during his 2016 presidential run, said Scott is “making all the right moves” to set himself up for a 2024 bid.

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