Although Florida Sen. Rick Scott may join the already crowded list of Republicans running for the White House, he’s not getting much support on Twitter.
On Thursday, The New York Times reported that the senator is considering whether to throw his hat in the ring. That would make him the fourth Republican candidate from Florida in the race, after former President Donald Trump, current Gov. Ron DeSantis and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
However, Scott denied he was mulling a run to HuffPost political reporter Igor Bobic, saying that “I’ve been clear, I’m running for the Senate.” Still, if Scott does declare his candidacy, he wouldn’t be the first politician to say one thing and then do another.
In addition to his fellow Floridians, Scott would be competing against former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former Texas congressman Will Hurd, who officially joined the race Thursday.
But it seems like the only people excited about a potential Scott run are those who don’t actually want him to win.
That’s because Scott’s record is chock-full of things that are largely unappealing to voters, like his proposals to “sunset” popular benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security, or to raise taxes on poor Americans so they’d have some “skin in the game.”
Critics could also seek to undermine Scott’s run by pointing to his time as CEO of the company Columbia/HCA, which paid over $840 million in criminal fines and damages over unlawful billing practices in 2000 and $881 million for a separate fine in 2002. Scott reportedly took the Fifth 75 separate times during a deposition linked to the company.
Considering that track record, it’s no surprise that Twitter users had thoughts, with some saying that The New York Times failed to mention the accusations of health care fraud that his company faced.
Others just got ... personal.
A few people welcomed him into the race for very selfish reasons.
And a number of users just felt pain for those who might have to suffer through a Scott presidential campaign.
But one person saw the possible run as a pathway to freedom — for Scott, anyway.