Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) revealed the “biggest thing” he believes will give former President Donald Trump an advantage in his upcoming debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia.
“The best thing Trump can do for her is for her to talk 99 percent of the time,” Scott said during Tuesday night's debate in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
“It'll be interesting to see which Kamala Harris emerges,” Scott told Fox News Digital. “The one who was part of the Biden administration that opened the borders, destroyed the economy, cut aid to Israel and let Iran have all their weapons, or the new Harris who believes the border should be secure, that the free market should work and inflation should be kept down, that we should allow domestic oil and gas production and bring down gas prices. It'll be interesting to see which Harris emerges.”
“I think it's most important to let Harris speak,” said Scott, a surrogate for the Trump 2024 campaign. “When she speaks, nobody, almost nobody, agrees with her. Maybe a socialist would. So I think it's most important that she speaks her mind. Whether it's talking about the border, talking about the economy, talking about foreign policy… there's no logic to her thought process.”
“When she talks about price controls, it just means product shortages,” the senator said in a phone interview Monday morning. “When she talks about the border, people say, 'Why didn't you do it now?' Everything that she says she's going to do, I think the first reaction everybody has is, 'Why didn't you do it?'”
Harris and Trump face off in historic debate, experts say the stakes are 'high'
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) spoke to Fox News Digital about his time working with then-Sen. Kamala Harris on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, saying she was more interested in being on TV than in policy. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
Scott said the ABC News hosts should ask Harris at the debate if she would apologize to the families of the 13 US soldiers killed in the Abbey Gate suicide bombing during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. He also said the hosts should ask what she would say to families in the country who “can't pay for groceries, gas or rent” because of the inflation that Harris and Joe Biden have caused.
Scott, who sat next to Harris on the Senate Homeland Security Committee for two years, said he noticed during that time that she “wasn't serious about any policy issues” but “was serious about being on TV.”
After much discussion about the debate, both sides agreed to follow the same rules as the Biden-Trump debate. The most controversial rule was that microphones would again be muted during the opponents' responses, which experts see as a win for Trump. There would be no studio audience, as in the June debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta.
According to the rules, only hosts David Muir and Lindsay Davis of ABC News will be allowed to ask questions.
Asked how the Republican candidate should appeal to women in the debate, with recent polls showing Harris having an advantage over Trump with female voters, Scott said Trump should talk about important issues “that resonate with every man and every woman” such as the economy, education and keeping people safe.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to debate Tuesday night in Philadelphia. (Getty)
Trump allies say he should debate Harris:
“Allowing boys to participate in girls' sports, I think that resonates with women, but I also think it resonates with men,” Scott said, “and I don't think people are going to be interested in whether Harris talks about her beliefs.”
Fox News Digital also reported that Trump said at the debate: Protecting American Voters' Eligibility to Vote (SAVE) ActThe bill seeks to require states to obtain proof of citizenship (in person) when individuals register to vote and to require states to remove non-citizens from existing voter rolls.
Some Republicans, including Scott, have called for the SAVE Act to be attached to an extension of a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.
ABC News billboards will be installed inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center the day before the 2024 presidential debate in Philadelphia on Sept. 9. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Do you think Trump should specifically address the SAVE Act and his concerns about illegal immigrants and foreign nationals voting in this election?” Fox News Digital asked.
“Yes,” Scott said, “I'm running for president this year, so I've been traveling all over Florida, and the topic that comes up in every talk I give is, are they going to steal the election? So I think this is an important topic for people to consider.”
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“So I expect it to hopefully pass the House,” Scott said of the bill, “and then, unless Mr. Schumer wants to shut down the government, it will pass the Senate.”
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
