Rick Scott, seditionist who backed Trump's delusional election lies, questions Biden's fitness
Rick Scott holds the distinction of being one of only eight Republican senators radical enough to have voted against certifying the 2020 election based on nothing but Donald Trump’s personally deluded fantasies.
Not a single court sided with Trump in more than 60 trips to the courthouse. Trump’s “elite strike force” of attorneys has been absolutely shredded by judges in subsequent proceedings seeking to hold them accountable for filing reckless claims. The Arizona fraudit is a complete joke, according to the GOP-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. There’s literally tape of Trump frantically calling Georgia’s top election official and asking him to “find” votes to steal the election.
Now Scott—whose judgment hasn’t been exactly sound—has floated the idea of removing President Joe Biden under the 25th Amendment over his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
“After the disastrous events in Afghanistan, we must confront a serious question: Is Joe Biden capable of discharging the duties of his office or has time come to exercise the provisions of the 25th Amendment?” Scott tweeted Monday.
LOL, really? The guy who turned a blind eye to four years of Trump’s entirely unhinged behavior and then supported his coup attempt has thoughts about Biden?
It’s laughable. So laughable, in fact, that it didn’t even pass the Chris Cillizza sniff test—and that’s like the lowest bar in Washington.
“Whaaa?” was Cillizza’s response. Sorry, Scott.
Honestly, Scott is a pretty desperate character right now. As chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm, he knows he needs to moderate the caucus to win back the Senate majority, and yet he can almost hear the distant call of the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Or, wait, are those just the voices in his head? Hard to know; honestly, it doesn’t seem like the GOP base is exactly clamoring for his candidacy.
The more Republicans like Scott throw around something as serious as the 25th Amendment, the more it cheapens the accusation. And if you listened to Biden’s speech Monday laying out his rationale for pulling American troops from Afghanistan, it seemed pretty sound. Here are some highlights from Biden’s speech:
"We spent over a trillion dollars. We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong. Incredibly well equipped. A force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies. We gave them every tool they could need. ... There are some very brave and capable Afghan special forces units and soldiers. But if Afghanistan is unable to mount any real resistance to the Taliban now, there is no chance that one year — one more year, five more years or 20 more years — that U.S. military boots on the ground would have made any difference."
"I’m left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay: How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan’s civil war when Afghan troops will not? How many more lives, American lives, is it worth, how many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery? I’m clear on my answer: I will not repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past."
"I’m now the fourth American president to preside over war in Afghanistan. Two Democrats and two Republicans. I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth president. I will not mislead the American people by claiming that just a little more time in Afghanistan will make all the difference. Nor will I shrink from my share of responsibility for where we are today and how we must move forward from here. I am president of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me."
It all leaves one to wonder: Who exactly is unfit now?