[ad_1]
“And she was doing that in front of 11 Republican men that seemed to dismiss it,” he said.
Mr. Scott voiced support for the judge, accusing Mr. Nelson of partisanship for failing to focus on abuse and assault allegations against Democrats like Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and criticizing Mr. Kavanaugh’s confirmation process.
“The way the U.S. Senate has handled this, it’s a circus,” Mr. Scott said. “It’s more like a ‘Jerry Springer Show.’ Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh are just pawns in some political game.”
Mr. Scott, who was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 with a relentless jobs message, has kept the Senate race close in part thanks to his direct appeals to Hispanic voters, and not only to Cuban-Americans in South Florida who lean Republican. He has also made repeated outreach to non-Cuban Hispanics, especially Puerto Ricans in Central Florida who tend to vote Democratic but are generally grateful to the governor for his visible presence on the island after Hurricane Maria last year.
Still, it was Mr. Nelson who won the endorsement on Monday of Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo A. Rosselló, who called Mr. Scott a friend but said Mr. Nelson had been helpful to the island even before the hurricane.
On Tuesday, Mr. Nelson vaunted Mr. Rosselló’s support and slammed the Trump administration’s Maria response, referring to the day when Mr. Trump tossed paper towels to storm victims, a gesture that many Puerto Ricans found distasteful in the wake of the disaster.
“He said, quote, ‘I would not have done anything differently,’” Mr. Nelson said of Mr. Scott.
“Distancing yourself from President Trump — would that guarantee the Puerto Rican vote in Florida?” Jackie Nespral, a debate moderator from the local NBC affiliate, asked Mr. Scott.
“I don’t think of politics that way,” he said. “I think about, how do you help families? Whether they’re in Puerto Rico, whether they came here, or whether they went back, my job is to be a full-service governor.”
