Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) was visibly flustered Wednesday night when asked why he delayed the start of his debate with former Gov. Charlie Crist (D) over a fan.
The moderator originally said Scott had decided not to participate in the gubernatorial debate because his opponent violated debate rules, which the Scott campaign said stipulated that a small fan Crist had brought to his podium was not allowed. Scott then joined Crist onstage about six minutes after the start of the debate.
In the lightning round of questioning at the end of the debate, the moderator asked Crist why he insisted on bringing a fan to his podium when his campaign knew it would be a “contentious issue.”
“Why not? Is there anything wrong with being comfortable?” Crist said.
“And Governor Scott, why the delay in coming out over a fan?” the moderator asked.
“I waited to be — ’til we figured out if he was gonna show up,” Scott stammered. “He said he wasn’t going to come to the, uh — he was — he said he wasn’t gonna come to the debate. So why come out until he’s ready?”
Scott repeated Thursday during a campaign stop that it was Crist who refused to go on stage.
“Charlie was throwing a fit,” he told reporters. “He was saying he wasn’t going to show up, so we waited to see if he would show up.”
Watch Scott’s debate response below:
And watch his explanation Thursday, as clipped by American Bridge:
This post has been updated.
