GOP lawmaker angers liberals with 'socialists and communists' travel advisory for Florida: 'Totally normal'
'They are not welcome in the Sunshine State,' he said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., seemed to anger liberals on Tuesday after he issued another warning about "socialists and communists" traveling to Florida, saying in a video posted to Twitter that they are "not welcome."
"I’m warning socialists and communists not to travel to Florida. They are not welcome in the Sunshine State," Scott wrote on Twitter.
In his video, he tells socialists, communists and anybody who believes in big government to "think twice" about traveling to Florida.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We're the free state of Florida. We actually don't believe in socialism, we actually know people, some people in our state lived under it and we know people that lived under socialism. It's not good," he said. "We like freedom, liberty, capitalism, things like that."
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., attends the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Global Security Challenges and Strategy, in Dirksen Building, February 15, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Molly Jong-Fast, podcast host and special correspondent at Vanity Fair, said she "finally found a politician who makes Ron DeSantis seem charismatic."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan quipped that Scott's comments were "totally normal" for a U.S. senator.
"Totally normal for a United States Senator to tell maybe millions of Americans not to visit his home state because of their political views," he tweeted.
Former Ohio state senator and 2020 Bernie Sanders campaign chair Nina Turner said the comments were "extremely inappropriate at best" and a "threat at worst."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., walks down the Senate steps at the Capitol after the last vote of the week in Washington on Thurssday, May 4, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Scott first issued the travel advisory in May, writing in a press release that the state was "openly hostile" towards socialists and communists.
"Florida is openly hostile toward Socialists, Communists, and those that enable them" and that before "traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by Socialists and others who work in the Biden Administration."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Let me be clear – any attempts to spread the oppression and poverty that Socialism always brings will be rebuffed by the people of Florida," Scott said. "Travelers should be aware that attempts to spread Socialism in north Florida will fail and be met with laughter and mockery."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a campaign event Friday, March 10, 2023, in Davenport, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ron Johnson) ((AP Photo/Ron Johnson))
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It came on the heels of the NAACP issuing a formal travel advisory for the state of Florida, arguing the state, under Gov. Ron DeSantis' leadership, "has engaged in an all-out attack on Black Americans" and other minority groups.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals," the formal advisory on the NAACP's website said. "Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color."
Fox News' Emma Colton, Houston Keene, and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.