Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) showed up in court Thursday for Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.
The Florida Republican was present as a show of support for the former president as his defense team prepares to grill Stormy Daniels, the porn star whose alleged sexual tryst with Trump is at the heart of the allegations of a hush-money payment.
Trump read out a statement attributed to Scott in front of the court: “He said ‘You can’t go after political persecutions, this is a shame. This should not be happening in our country.’”
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Earlier, Scott told Fox & Friends: “If we don’t stop this, they can go after you. Every American’s at risk. I’m going to go support this president because this is wrong, what’s happening to this guy.”
Scott, a former two-term Florida governor, is running for re-election to the Senate against Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, whom he has labeled a “radical socialist,” echoing Trump’s rhetoric about his own political rivals.
Scott met with Trump in early March and shared an awkward selfie of the two standing together and grinning. He wrote on X at the time that they would “continue working together” in 2024 to “win big” and “fix Washington.”
A few months earlier, Scott had likely scored major points with Trump by penning an op-ed in Newsweek calling on other Republicans to endorse Trump in the 2024 race over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
