Sen. Rick Scott leaves hurricane-ravaged Florida to fundraise and campaign for Trump

A private jet owned by Florida Sen. Rick Scott flew to Massachusetts mere hours after Scott toured hurricane wreckage in his home state. Scott has previously been scrutinized for missing votes in the U.S. Senate for interstate travel.

Scott, a Republican, is currently seeking a second term in the Senate. His Democratic opponent is former U.S. House Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

Hurricane Debby made landfall on Florida’s gulf coast on Aug. 5. Privately insured losses from the storm are expected to total $1.4 billion. At least four Florida residents died in the surge.

On Aug. 6, Scott held press events in Manatee and Taylor counties. In a social media post, Scott claimed he was working to secure federal disaster relief funding and shared photos of himself meeting with local law enforcement.

Less than two hours later, according to publicly available flight records, Scott’s private jet flew from nearby Cross City, FL to Nantucket, MA. Scott’s jet flew to White Plains, NY on Aug. 7 and returned to Massachusetts on Aug. 8.

During this period, Scott’s campaign reported $16,750 in new campaign contributions from donors with Connecticut addresses. All of these addresses were within 30 miles of White Plains.

On Aug. 9, Scott’s jet flew from Massachusetts to Bozeman, MT, where former President Donald Trump was holding a rally. The following day, Scott spoke at a conservative media event in Atlanta, GA. In his remarks, Scott acknowledged that he attended the Bozeman rally to support Trump and Montana’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy.

“I was with Trump yesterday in Montana,” Scott said. “He was doing an event for Sheehy. I want Sheehy to win.”

In addition to seeking reelection, Scott is also running to succeed Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell as Republican leader of the U.S. Senate.

A Scott campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions for this story.