Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., showing his support in New York City during former President Donald Trump's criminal trial, said he traveled to the proceedings because he considers Trump a friend and believes what "he is going through is just despicable."
While several other Republican lawmakers have voiced their support for Trump, Scott, a fellow Floridian, is thought to be the first joining him at the Manhattan courthouse. He sat in the courtroom's front row while testimony continued from adult film star Stormy Daniels, reported Politico.
Scott's appearance could help Trump in his reelection bid, as Florida's polling shows Trump leading President Joe Biden, and also allowed him to voice Trump's comments on the trial without being subject to Judge Juan Merchan's gag order.
"I'm here because I have known Donald Trump a long time," Scott told reporters during a break in the proceedings. "I knew him before I was governor. I consider him a friend."
He also suggested that the charges against Trump are politically motivated, telling reporters Matthew Colangelo, one of the prosecutors, is a former Justice Department employee. He also spoke out against members of Merchan's family.
Scott's reelection campaign senior adviser, Chris Hartline, said Trump and Scott have known each other for over 25 years and speak regularly, but noted that their relationship is "not just a political alliance" but a friendship that started "before either of them were in office."
Susie Wiles, Trump's senior campaign adviser, was also Scott's first campaign manager. The senator said she invited him to attend the trial, but he added it was his decision to speak publicly, not the campaign's.
"The friendship and support of Sen. Scott is important to President Trump and to the campaign," Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes said. "When Biden and the Democrats are attacking you every minute of every day, it is always good to have strong friends and supporters at your side."
Meanwhile, Scott's campaign shared a roundup of his comments with reporters, and MAGA Inc., the super PAC backing Trump's campaign, shared his comments about the prosecution on social media.
"This can't continue," Scott said. "What is happening to this president is wrong."
Scott also compared Trump's legal struggles with those of his own.
He said early Thursday that after he opposed Hillary Clinton's healthcare reform plans in the 1990s, the Justice Department began investigating Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., the hospital chain he was leading.
Scott left the company in 1997 while it was still under investigation, which was at the center of $1.7 billion in Medicare fraud.
The senator has been attacked politically for the findings and has maintained his innocence. Former Democrat Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is likely challenging him this fall for the Senate, joined Florida Democrats in criticizing Scott for being with Trump in New York City.
Mucarsel-Powell said he skipped a procedural vote to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, noting that the legislation "protects Florida travelers, strengthens air safety, and provides our aviation workforce with the resources they need to secure our skies."
Scott did vote on the bill's final passage, but Mucarsel-Powell, referencing the Medicare case, said it should be "no surprise" that Scott "would put himself and his own extreme agenda before the people he was elected to represent."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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