Earlier this week, Florida Governor Rick Scott stopped for some Starbucks in Gainesville. During his venture into the store, another customer started calling him out regarding political decisions and policies he’s made while in office.
“You cut Medicaid, so I couldn’t get Obamacare. You’re an a**hole. You don’t care about working people… You don’t care about working people. You should be ashamed to show your face around here… You stripped women of access to public health care. Shame on you, Rick Scott! We depend on those services! Rich people like you don’t know what to do! When poor people like us need health services, you cut ‘em. Shame on you, Rick Scott – you’re an embarrassment to our state!”
On Friday, his PAC, Let’s Get to Work, released an ad attacking the private citizen seen in the video.
As Let’s Get to Work notes, Cara Jennings of Lake Worth was indeed a city commissioner in the past. She has been a powerful activist in the area working on issues such as the environment, immigration, homelessness, and more. Upon being questioned regarding this attack ad, she says, “Scott and his PAC are bullies.” She describes what happened before the filming started:
“It started out very calm. I saw his profile and wasn’t sure if it was him. So I just said, ‘Governor Scott,’ and he turned towards me. I asked, ‘Why did you pass that awful law last week that impacts women’s healthcare choices?’ And he said, ‘I don’t vote on bills,’ which is so incredibly disingenuous. If I didn’t understand the political process, at that point I would have thought, ‘Oh, I got the information wrong,’ and I would have dropped it. But he didn’t even own up to the fact that he passed this bill.
So I said, right you don’t vote—but you have executive authority to sign bills into law. And this bill you signed into law is very harmful to women like me, who rely on women’s health services like Planned Parenthood. And he said, go to your county health clinic then.
So I have the governor of the state of Florida telling me which healthcare provider I should go to, in a coffee shop. Completely inappropriate. And basically where the video picks up is when I respond by saying, ‘You’re an asshole.'”
It’s worth noting that Governor Scott’s approval rating as of March 1 is only at 38% with a whopping 48% disapproval rate. Perhaps that is related to his need to use campaign funds and tactics against his own constituents.
Featured image via YouTube.
