Sen. Scott’s Video Notice to Socialists Draws Millions of Views, Discussion

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan and plans for future counterterrorism operations on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 28, 2021. (Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images)

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) published a video message to socialists and communists on Tuesday morning that garnered upwards of 38,000 replies and 26 million views on Twitter as of Wednesday.

“Let me give a travel warning: if you’re a socialist, communist, someone that believes in big government, I would think twice—think twice if you’re thinking about taking a vacation or moving to Florida,” he said.

“We actually know people ... who lived under socialism, it’s not good,” he said. “We like freedom, liberty, capitalism, things like that.”

Scott issued a similar “travel advisory” last month, saying Floridians are “openly hostile” to socialists and communists.

“In much of Central and South Florida, the situation is far more dangerous for Socialists, as they may encounter people from Cuba, Venezuela, and other parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean who have direct knowledge of, and experience with, the horrors of Socialism,” he wrote in May.

The United States is home to about 2 million Cuban Americans according to the Census Bureau, with at least two-thirds living in Florida. The Pew Research Center found that as of 2014, 48 percent of the state’s nearly 4.8 million Hispanic population was born outside of the United States.

Scott on June 22 denied reports of his seeking a run for president, and confirmed he would run again for Senate.

Florida has historically been considered a swing state, but in recent election cycles leaned right, with reports of Florida turning into a red state surfacing during the 2020 elections and again ahead of the 2024 elections. In the 2012 and 2016 presidential races, victory in Florida was in the margins of about 1 percent.

In 2020, Florida’s active registered voters numbered 5.2 million in the Republican Party and 5.3 million in the Democratic Party, according to the state’s Division of Elections. The dataset goes back to 1972, and 2021 marked the first time registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats, with the trend continuing through 2023.