Sen. Rick Scott spoke with WDBO’s Scott Anez Tuesday morning about the upcoming midterm election, democratic socialist policies and his proposed bills to suspend Chinese military companies in the U.S. stock exchange.
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Scott touched on the Senate race between nominees Sen. Ashley Moody and Rep. Angie Nixon. He called Moody “a clear choice,” citing a pull towards socialist policies in the Democratic party.
Nixon faced some backlash after she joined the Democratic Socialists of America in June, two months prior to her Democratic primary nomination. However, Nixon told NBC in August she identifies as a capitalist who “believes that we need strong regulations.”
Scott said he thinks the lean into socialist policies comes from the cost of living crisis, citing what he calls the rising costs of starter homes, higher education and healthcare.
READ: Orlando’s housing shortage declared worst in the nation
“We have got to go back and say, ‘You know what, we’re going to give you your freedom back,’” Scott said. “We’re going to give you your taxes back. We’re going to drive down the size of government. We’re going to stop telling you how to lead your lives, and we’re going to give you freedom. And then we’re going to have prosperity in this country again.”
Scott said he believes the best approach to solving the crisis is to balance the budget and limit regulations.
“Focus on job creation. Take Florida as an example. We need more jobs in Florida. We’ve only added like something like 60,000 jobs this last year,” he said.
In August, Florida’s private sector added 16,600 net private payroll jobs, and over the past year it added 63,900 private payroll jobs, according to the Joint Economics Committee.
The senator compared this to his gubernatorial career. In 2018 — his final year as governor — the state added more than 251,200 private-sector jobs, according to Florida Jobs.
Scott said he believes the Republicans can maintain control of the House and Senate by “talking about what [they’re] going to do to improve people’s lives.”
“It’s not more government; it’s getting government off your back and allowing you to have the freedom to go live your life,” Scott said. “If that’s what we do, then we’re going to win, and we have great candidates.”
The senator also spoke on the Chinese government following the recent arrest of an Irvine, Ca. woman for allegedly acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China.
Scott introduced two new bills on Sept. 30, directing the Securities and Exchange Commission to identify and suspend the Chinese Communist Party military companies from trading on U.S. exchanges.
The Know Your Sanctioned Securities Act and The Protecting U.S. Investors from Chinese Military Companies Act directs the SEC to identify and attach modifiers to Chinese military companies and suspend the trading of securities for any company that remains on the Pentagon’s military-industrial blacklist. For more on the bills, click here.
The senator called for Americans to stop buying Chinese products or stocks.
“We’re giving them American dollars to go build their military to go defeat us. Now, come on, does that make any sense? That doesn’t make any sense,” Scott said.
Read: In China, the Xi-Trump summit is seen as projecting image of the country’s rise
However, Scott praised President Trump for his business-like approach to communicating with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the recent summit at the White House in September. The historic summit marked Xi’s first visit to the United States in over a decade.
“We’re dependent on China for for a variety of things...So we’ve got to separate ourselves,” Scott said. “And so in the meantime, you’ve got to deal with them. So the president’s doing exactly what he should be doing. He’s talking to him. He’s figuring out how can we work together. How can we not go to war? I mean, he’s he’s doing the right thing.”
For more, listen to the Anez Sez podcast.
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