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Rick Scott Struggles To Explain How He Will “Cancel” GOP Civil War

Scott’s Declaration That GOP Internal Battles Were Over Has Not Aged Well, Will Be “Put To The Test” As Republicans & Trump Gather At CPAC — Where McConnell Wasn’t Invited

NRSC Chair Rick Scott’s declaration that the GOP “civil war is now cancelled” isn’t aging well. Just take a look at what’s happened in the days following Scott’s declaration:

  • Senator Lindsey Graham attacked Mitch McConnell and said former President Donald Trump is much more “dominant” in the GOP than the Senate Minority Leader.

Scott’s reluctance to choose sides in this all-out intraparty battle is widely attributed to his “presidential ambitions.” Now the GOP’s civil war is about to be “put to the test” as Scott and other Senate Republicans and prospective candidates gather at CPAC, where Trump will be speaking –– and McConnell was notably not invited. At this point, it’s clear: “we can safely say that the Republican Party’s internal strife is not over.”

Catch up on the GOP civil war that Rick Scott can’t seem to cancel: 

Roll Call: At the Races: Can you cancel a civil war?

  • Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who leads the NRSC, declared in a memo to voters and donors this week that the GOP “civil war has been cancelled.” 
  • Not so fast. 
  • While we’re reluctant to employ the language of war, especially after the violence of Jan. 6, we can safely say that the Republican Party’s internal strife is not over. And it’s about to take a public turn this weekend when Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference. The former president has signaled his interest in seeking retribution, in the form of primary challenges, against congressional Republicans who haven’t exhibited sufficient loyalty to him.
  • Scott relayed to reporters at the Capitol a recent conversation he had with Trump: “I told him I want to win in ’22 and said I’m going to be very specific of where I think he could be helpful and he gets to make the decision whether he wants to do it or not.”

Florida Politics: Rick Scott can’t say how he will end GOP ‘civil war’

  • Sen. Rick Scott on Thursday continued to struggle with explaining what his strategy was for ending the so-called Republican Civil War.
  • The Senator, appearing on the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” wrestled to answer questions about a memo and video his National Republican Senatorial Committee released over the last week, in which he proclaimed the conflict “canceled.”
  • He offered no insight into how he would resolve the rift between pro- and anti-Donald Trump wings of the party.
  • That creative covered much of the same ground as a memo released Tuesday, one in which Scott said, without evidence beyond assertion, that the civil war was canceled and over.
  • With the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando this weekend, expect Scott’s assertions that the party’s civil war is over to be put to the test, as Perino herself suggested.

Newsweek: Lindsey Graham Says Donald Trump Is More ‘Dominant’ in GOP Than Mitch McConnell

  • Senator Lindsey Graham has said Donald Trump is the “most dominant” voice in the GOP, calling on the former president to unveil new policy ideas and rebuking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for condemning the ex-commander-in-chief.
  • The South Carolina Republican told Newsmax on Wednesday that he didn’t think McConnell’s denouncement of Trump after his second Senate impeachment trial was “reflective” of the GOP caucus, but conceded that he could “have his say” as an individual senator.
  • The senator added: “I spent the weekend with President Trump. He’s more determined than ever to grow this party, not shrink it. He is the most dominant voice in the Republican Party—not Mitch McConnell, not Lindsey Graham. His ideas will stand the test of time.”

Wall Street Journal: How Rick Scott Is Trying to Bridge the Trump-McConnell Divide

  • Mr. Scott heads the Senate Republicans’ campaign committee, which is tasked in part with helping re-elect the party’s incumbents. But he didn’t ask Mr. Trump to refrain from endorsing primary opponents against GOP senators whom Mr. Trump has derided as disloyal for publicly criticizing him, including Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
  • The wealthy businessman and former governor adamantly rejects the narrative that the Republican Party is embroiled in a civil war, even as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) accused Mr. Trump of a “disgraceful dereliction of duty,” and Mr. Trump slammed Mr. McConnell as a “political hack,” pledging to field his own primary rivals.
  • Mr. Scott’s job as NRSC chairman would be challenging even without the need to navigate a Trump-McConnell minefield.
  • Mr. McConnell has said he will try to affect the outcome of Senate primaries if necessary to boost “candidates who can actually win in November.” Mr. Scott said he will do everything he can to re-elect incumbents, including Mr. Thune and Ms. Murkowski, but he has made clear he has no intention of getting the NRSC involved in open primaries. That holds even in Georgia, should GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene choose to run for Senate.
  • A reluctance to pick sides in intraparty fights makes sense for someone widely understood among Florida Republicans to have presidential ambitions.

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