Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) received a scalding reception during a visit to a Starbucks in Gainesville, Florida, Tuesday, when a woman confronted him for refusing to expand Medicaid to low-income residents.
"You cut Medicaid, so I couldn't get Obamacare," shouted the woman in an exchange. "You're an asshole. You don't care about working people. ... You should be ashamed to show your face around here."
Scott has been a vocal opponent of Obamacare, but he has gone back and forth on the Medicaid expansion made possible by the law. In 2012, he said he was against it. Then he shocked people and said he was for it in 2013. But last year, he said he opposes it, arguing that the state could not "take on even more federal programs."
Stephen Bender shot and uploaded the Starbucks confrontation. He said the woman -- whom he identified as Cara Jennings -- started out by asking Scott why he signed a bill last month that cuts off state funding for preventive health services to clinics that also perform abortions.
At Starbucks, the governor told the woman that he had created 1 million jobs. But she was not impressed, saying most people these days didn't have a great job lined up.
"You strip women of access to public health care. Shame on you, Rick Scott!" she yelled as the governor and his team left the coffee shop. "We depend on those services. Rich people like you don't know what to do! When poor people like us need health services, you cut them. Shame on you, Rick Scott! You're an embarrassment to our state."
This piece has been updated with additional information about the incident.
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