Rick Scott of Florida, a former governor and now a U.S. Senator, chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is responsible for getting Republicans elected to the Senate.
He has a mess on his hands in Pennsylvania, where Afghanistan combat veteran and “Outlaw Platoon” co-author Sean Parnell (not to be confused with Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, they’re two different people) is running in the 2022 GOP Senate primary. There are, of course, other GOP candidates in the race (see list here). Of note, Parnell lost a close election for Congress in 2020 (see details here).
Parnell (on the left in tweet below) is embroiled in an ugly child custody battle with his estranged wife. She testified “he choked her until she bit him” and “hit their young children,” plus called her a bunch of names and did other nasty things, which if true isn’t exactly the kind of stuff that voters of either party find appealing. He says she’s lying, and denies it all. (Read story here.)
Now enter Rick Scott. On Monday, November 8, 2021, the same day Mrs. Parnell testified, CNN‘s Briann Keilar asked Scott what the NRSC is going to do about its Sean Parnell problem. And …
What problem?
KEILAR: “You are head of the NRSC, charged with getting Republicans elected to the Senate. Sean Parnell’s facing allegations from his wife he strangled her and abused one of their small children. Is he still the right candidate?”
SCOTT: “As you know, we have Republican and Democrat primaries across the country and in Pennsylvania, we have — both Republicans and Democrats have primaries, and so we’ll see who comes out of the primary. Facts will come out, we’ll find out what people think. I’m not supporting or opposing people in the primary.”
Now how freakin’ hard is it for a party leader to say, “If these allegations are true, our party can’t support him and voters shouldn’t either.” Easy for normal civilized people, but incredibly hard for a weasel-mouthed politician with a very wide yellow stripe down his back. Read story here.
