ABC "This Week" - Transcript: Interview with Rick Scott
Interview
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SEN. RICK SCOTT, (R-FL): Well, first off, it's tragic what happened to George Floyd, and I think for all of us, our hearts go out to his family.
Justice is never perfect, but we've got the best justice system in the world and justice prevailed. I am disappointed that people like Maxine Waters and Joe Biden spoke about it before a verdict. I think we ought to bring people together, not sort of incite people to do the wrong thing, but it's horrible that it happened. I don't -- I hope it never happens again.
I'm disappointed in the Democrats. Tim Scott worked hard last year on a police reform bill, and the Democrats blocked it in a filibuster. So all of us would like to make sure we keep our communities safe.
When I left as governor of Florida, we were at a 47 year lower in our crime rate, and I was proud of our sheriff department and police departments. The vast majority do the right thing each and every day.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's talk about that police reform bill. It seems like there's an awful lot that Republicans and Democrats can agree on. Senator Scott, you mentioned, is hoping for a bipartisan negotiation but you just heard Congresswoman Bass right there.
It certainly seems like this issue of shielding individual police officers from lawsuits, and lowering the standard for prosecution seems to be the main sticking points. Are those redlines?
SCOTT: Well, I think what we ought to do is let's find best practices. I think if you go back to what Tim Scott proposed, let's have more transparency so we can find out what's working and what's not working. In his bill, we had incentives to -- you know, to stop chokeholds as an example.
But I think you start with more transparency, and I think you bring in -- you do what I've done when I was governor. You sit down with law enforcement and say, okay, what can we do to be better, and why are some -- some officers better, some departments better than others? Rather than saying, oh, everybody is doing the wrong thing, and creating -- incenting people not to do their job.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don't think there should be new standards for prosecution or lawsuits?
SCOTT: I have -- you know, I always listen to everybody's proposal, but what I'm not going to do is put our law enforcement community in a position that they've got to second-guess themselves when they're trying to make sure people are staying safe. We were at 47 -- when I left as governor two years ago, we were at a 47-year low in -- here low in our crime rate, and that's what I want to focus on.
Well, how do we -- how do we make our systems better all the time? The vast majority of law enforcement officers show up every day, put their lives on the risk every day, and do the right thing.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The vast majority do, but you've seen this spate of killings as well.
SCOTT: Well, I mean, look, I -- it's horrible what happens. I mean, I -- also I went through, you know, 51 law enforcement officers in my eight years as governor lose their lives in line of duty showing up and defending people's, you know, safety each and every day.
So I think what we've got to do is we've got to respect our law enforcement community and then figure out how can we figure out how all -- everybody in our community is staying safe?
I always said when I was governor, three primary jobs, give people a job, get their kids good condition and keep people safe. And that's what I try to do every day, and that's what -- that's what Republicans are trying to do all across the country, keep people safe.
STEPHANOPOULOS: What do you hope to hear from President Biden on Wednesday?
SCOTT: Well, first off, you know, I'm sure he's going to talk about unity and bipartisanship which he's not done since -- since he's been up there. I wish he would talk about the crisis on the border, which he created. I mean, it's a crisis. I've been down there with Governor Ducey to see. That he's created this crisis.
I like him to talk about why aren't all of our schools opened? Why would he -- why would -- why are we -- what is he going to do about $33 trillion in debt, and this inflation that's picking up? Gas prices up since he got his election, significantly over 70 cents a gallon. I hope he talks about that.
And how he's going to hold people like Shia -- the ayatollah, and the Castro regime, or the Maduro regime accountable. That's the things I like him to talk about.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You talked about the crisis on the border. You said that President Biden created it. Your own former president, Republican President George W. Bush, spoke out on the issue of immigration this week.
I want to play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: It's a beautiful country we have, and yet it's not beautiful when we condemn and call people names and scare people about immigration.
INTERVIEWER: If you were to describe the Republican Party as you see it today --
BUSH: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: -- how would you describe it?
BUSH: I would describe it as isolationist, protectionist and to a certain extent, nativist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Those are pretty harsh words from a former Republican president about the current Republican Party.
SCOTT: I'll tell you, the Republican Party is the land of opportunity. I live in an immigration state, but I believe in legal immigration.
I mean, if you look at what Joe Biden's done, I took an aerial tour of the border with Governor Ducey from Arizona. He stopped building, you know, the wall by not putting up the fences, didn't electrify the lights and cameras so the Border Patrol could make sure people are safe.
But, look, the Democrats don't want to do anything. I believe we've got to figure out how to take care of the DACA kids. We have to create -- you know, we have to create security at the border and let's figure out how we make this a country where people that want to live the dream that we want to live can come in here on a legal basis.
But I have been in D.C. for a little over two years, and I mean, I had a bill that every Republican signed off on to improve temporary protective status, and Democrats blocked it on the floor twice, and part of it was to give TPS to Venezuelans, which are fleeing Maduro.
And they -- and would they talk to me about it? No. They would not have a meeting with me about it. They had no -- interest in getting anything done. They wanted to have an issue for campaign.
I want legal immigration. I -- my state's full of legal immigration. We have done -- we've prospered because of legal immigration.
And why the Democrats don't want to secure the border and figure out how to fix things like -- take care of the DACA, the kids and fix TPS, I don't -- it doesn't make sense to me, but they won't.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Finally, a couple of weeks back, you gave former President Trump something you called the Champion of Freedom Award. That was on April 10th. And you did that despite the fact that the former president continues to spread lies about the election, about Mike Pence and Capitol siege on January 6th. He said there was no threat there.
Doesn't giving the president an award like that endorse that kind of behavior?
SCOTT: I gave him that award for the right reasons. He -- he worked on border security. He worked on creating the best economy we've had probably in my lifetime. He -- he worked on holding Xi and China accountable, the Castro regime accountable, Maduro accountable, helping Israel, got the Abraham Accords signed. So, I mean, he -- I mean he worked hard. You know, every president I know would like to get more things accomplished, but, I mean, he -- he did some things that prior presidents had not gotten done.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, except you gave that award after he spread the lies about the election. And also you're in charge of getting Republican senators elected in 2022. You've asked the former president to endorse all GOP incumbents, but he refused to do that and he's going to actively campaign, he says, against Senator Lisa Murkowski.
SCOTT: Well, I think -- well, Lisa Murkowski will have a great win. You know, we're going to have -- we're going to -- you know, Republicans are united. We don't like the Biden agenda. We actually -- Republicans like a secure border, open schools. They don't want to be dependent on energy for -- to a foreign country. They don't want immigration reform or packing the Supreme Court that the Democrats want because they -- they know it's not good for the country. And Republicans believe in this country. We know we're a beacon of light. We're not talking like Democrats are that they trash the country every day and say everybody's a racist, because this is not a racist country. This is a country, we're the land of opportunity. And I'm proud to be a Republican. And I know we're going to have a big win in '22, and Biden'ss helping us each and every day.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Scott, thanks for your time this morning.
SCOTT: Thanks, George. Have a good day.
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