Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) has thrown his hat in the ring in the race to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as America’s Senate GOP leader.
According to Scott, he’s already got the support of one major name behind him.
Scott recently told The Washington Times that he consulted with President Donald Trump about entering the race to replace McConnell.
He said that Trump “was excited I’m getting in.”
If that’s a signal that Donald Trump will soon give an official endorsement to Rick Scott, that must be music to the ears of the Florida Republican.
Scott has already confirmed that this is not an official endorsement yet.
However, he notes that he has “known the former president since before either of them left the business world to seek political office.”
Scott wasted no time connecting with other Republicans around the country immediately after announcing his intent.
As of May 23, Scott claims that he had already spoken to every single Republican Senator in America.
The Senate Republican Conference will take place later this year, and that is where the GOP will cast their votes to select a new GOP leader for the next Congress.
While the field could certainly still grow before an official decision is made, the field is currently made up of three people: Scott, and Senators John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX).
Neither Thune nor Cornyn is any stranger to high-profile positions in the Senate.
Both senators have experience as the No. 2 in GOP leadership.
Thune is considered an establishment candidate and has been a senator in South Dakota since 2005.
He is currently the Senate minority whip, a post he’s been in since 2021.
Thune’s greatest political accomplishment may have been defeating sitting Senate Democrat Leader Tom Daschle back in 2004.
John Cornyn III has been the senior United States senator from Texas since 2002.
Before that, he served on the state’s Supreme Court from 1991 to 1997 and was the attorney general of Texas from 1999 to 2002.
Cornyn is also considered to be an establishment candidate.
Trump’s friend from Florida jumped into the race because he thought that neither Cornyn nor Thune was a big enough departure from what the GOP has been getting out of McConnell lately.
Scott may be sitting pretty to get that endorsement from Trump, however.
The senator has been approaching his run with a bit of a “drain the swamp” mentality, just like Trump.
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