Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

Rick Scott won’t attend Donald Trump Tallahassee rally

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Gov. Rick Scott said he won’t be attending GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump‘s Tallahassee rally on Tuesday night because of a scheduling conflict.

His daily schedule shows a 4:45 p.m. “Teacher of the Year” event and a “Leadership Dinner” at the Governor’s Mansion from 6-7:30 p.m.

Trump’s rally is set to begin at 6 p.m. on the grounds of the city’s antique car museum, near Interstate 10.

Scott, a Trump supporter, also is national chairman of the “Rebuilding America Now” super PAC dedicated to Trump’s election.

“I still support Donald Trump,” he told reporters after a Florida Cabinet meeting. “I want somebody in the White House who’ll focus on jobs.”

But Scott said his dinner took precedence over the suddenly scheduled rally: “I’ve got people traveling (here) from around the state.”

When asked if he would be campaigning for any candidate between now and Election Day, the governor said he was concentrating on the needs of the state, mentioning the Zika virus outbreak: “That’s my primary focus right now.”

But, he quickly added, “If the right thing … if there’s an opportunity, I’ll do what I can to help people.”

Before joining Florida Politics, journalist and attorney James Rosica was state government reporter for The Tampa Tribune. He attended journalism school in Washington, D.C., working at dailies and weekly papers in Philadelphia after graduation. Rosica joined the Tallahassee Democrat in 1997, later moving to the courts beat, where he reported on the 2000 presidential recount. In 2005, Rosica left journalism to attend law school in Philadelphia, afterwards working part time for a public-interest law firm. Returning to writing, he covered three legislative sessions in Tallahassee for The Associated Press, before joining the Tribune’s re-opened Tallahassee bureau in 2013. He can be reached at [email protected].

Latest from Statewide

Go to Top