Rick Scott wants corporations to shut up about politics but fund his campaign committees

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said Monday that corporations should stay out of political fights and focus instead on doing their jobs. But as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in political action committee money from corporations and trade associations this cycle alone.

“Companies like Disney, Coke and Delta should be focusing on their customers not engaging in political fights,” Scott tweeted. “The woke culture that is poisoning corporate America is just another consequence of Democrat[ic] leadership.”

He also shared a clip of himself on Fox Business attacking Disney for speaking out against Florida’s anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Say Gay” law and criticizing Delta and Coca-Cola for previous criticism of Georgia’s voter suppression law.

“I just don’t get these companies, what they’re doing. Go do your job, take care of your customers, treat your employees with respect, figure out how to be a better company,” Scott said. “Don’t engage in all these social fights.”

This is not a new line of attack from Scott, the controversial former CEO of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. Last year, he threatened that if Republicans regain a majority in Congress in the 2022 midterms, they will punish “woke” corporations in retaliation for their support of voting rights.

“There is a massive backlash coming. You will rue the day when it hits you. That day is November 8, 2022. That is the day Republicans will take back the Senate and the House. It will be a day of reckoning,” he vowed in an April 2021 open letter. “There will be no amount of donations you can make that will save you. There will be nowhere for you to hide.”

But while Scott has told U.S. companies to stay out of politics, he continues to rely on them for millions in campaign cash.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is tasked with electing a GOP Senate majority this November, has reported receiving more than $4.5 million from corporate and trade association political action committees since Scott became chair for the 2021-2022 campaign cycle.

This includes one $15,000 donation from Coca-Cola Refreshments USA’s political action committee and two $15,000 donations from Delta Air Lines’ political action committee.

Scott’s campaign and his Let’s Get to Work leadership PAC have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate political action committees dating back to his first federal campaign in 2018. Donations include a $1,000 contribution in 2020 from the Walt Disney Productions Employees PAC and two $2,500 checks from Delta Air Lines in 2019 and 2020.

While he has criticized these and other companies for supporting LGBTQ equality and voting rights, in the past, Scott has encouraged the business community to speak out on issues when they agree with him.

Last March, he demanded that American companies denounce China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority population.

“I applaud H&M and other clothing retailers for doing the right thing by publicly expressing concern over forced labor and auditing their supply chains to ensure they are not complicit in this genocide and torture of Uyghurs,” Scott said in a press release. “Every company needs to follow this example and stand up for human rights.”

A spokesperson for Scott and the National Republican Senatorial Committee did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.