Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), a vocal Donald Trump supporter, balked at reporters’ questions Monday about Trump’s racially tinged criticisms of a federal judge presiding over lawsuits against Trump University. Scott told reporters he would rather talk about the tropical storm heading towards Florida, according to Politico.
The topic of Trump’s ongoing smears against the federal judge, Judge Gonzalo Curiel — which have included claims that Curiel is biased against Trump because he is of Mexican descent — came up when Scott spoke to reporters after attending a briefing about Tropical Storm Colin, forecast to make landfall in Florida Monday evening.
“I know I can’t say that I would say the same thing any other candidate says,” Scott said, when asked whether he considered Trump’s remarks racist.
“I can tell you what’s important to me is that all the candidates get their message out,” Scott said. “I got my message out. But right now I want to talk about the tropical storm.”
Scott endorsed Trump soon after the Florida GOP primary, which Trump won. He had planned to travel to New York this week to meet with Trump, Politico reported, but canceled the meeting in order to stay in Florida to deal with the coming storm.
