With a poll released this week showing Hillary Clinton up by 9 percent in the Sunshine State, a major media outlet reported that Florida “remains a particular concern” for Donald Trump’s campaign with some infighting between the Republican nominee’s supporters.
Politico released a story by Alex Isenstadt on Trump’s current slump on Wednesday which looked at how Florida Gov. Rick Scott is having problems with some of the GOP presidential candidate’s campaign team. Scott endorsed Trump after his big win in Florida and currently chairs a PAC backing his presidential bid.
“In interviews, three Republicans helping the campaign complained about few field offices being open in the critical state and said Florida lacked what’s known as ‘collateral’ — yard signs, bumper stickers and pamphlets," Isenstadt wrote. “The Republicans attributed the impasse to Trump’s Florida state director Karen Giorno, who they said had held up hires and clashed with members of the campaign team. Scott’s political team had become so frustrated with Giorino, one person close to Scott said, that the governor is now solely focused on helping the pro-Trump super PAC Rebuild America Now — not the Trump campaign itself. A Scott spokeswoman, Melissa Stone, wouldn’t comment on Giorno other than to say that Scott ‘believes his time is best spent” helping the super PAC. ‘Governor Scott became the chairman of Rebuilding American Now PAC for Donald Trump because he wants Donald Trump to win and he believes his time is best spent keeping TV ads on the air for Trump that set the record straight on Hillary Clinton.'
“But the three Republicans worried that little could be done to address the situation,” Isenstadt added. “Giorno enjoys a close relationship with Trump and in May locked horns with former Trump adviser Rick Wiley — a battle that led to Wiley’s firing. Giorno declined to directly address the complaints but said she’d ‘spoken directly with Mr. Trump as well as members of the senior team. We’re in sync on Florida.’”
Scott went to bat for Trump at the last night of the Republican convention, speaking about jobs. Scott made job creation the staple of his first gubernatorial campaign in 2010 and has showcased new jobs during his time in Tallahassee.
Back in January, Scott offered very kind words for Trump in an op-ed that ran in the USA Today.
“I know Donald Trump personally, and while I currently have no plans to endorse a candidate before Florida’s March presidential primary, there is no doubt that Donald is a man who speaks and tweets his mind freely,” Scott wrote. “But, I don’t think his ability to give the most interesting interviews or speeches is the only thing that has him leading in the polls. I think he is capturing the frustration of many Americans after seven years of President Obama’s very intentional government takeover of the American economy.”
Pointing to his own business career, Scott slammed bureaucratic regulations emerging out of Washington D.C. that hurt the private sector and insisted he understood why frustrated Republicans were backing Trump. Scott also used his time on the national stage to showcase his own record.
“I ran for governor of Florida to turn our economy around,” Scott noted. “I pledged to create 700,000 jobs in seven years. In the last five years, we have added one million private sector jobs. We presently have almost 300,000 job openings. Housing prices have recovered, and our crime rate is at a 44 year low. Even though the politicians will scoff at the notion, we can see this kind of growth nationally if we dramatically change our approach to governing.
“It is my hope that every Republican presidential candidate will become laser-focused on job creation because I want our next president to be a Republican, and I want them to eliminate the regulations and taxes that are poisoning our country’s future,” Scott concluded. “The pollsters and pundits will keep trying to read voters’ minds. In the meantime, I am glad Republicans are frustrated. I am glad we are demanding a major change, because until we get serious about that, we will continue to get more of the same.”
