Several of President-elect Donald Trump's most prominent supporters are backing Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to be the next U.S. Senate majority leader.
Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tucker Carlson, and Vivek Ramaswamy all called for Scott to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as GOP leader in the new Congress.
In Tuesday's elections, Republicans won control of the upper chamber. McConnell, who will remain in the Senate, announced in February that he will step down as leader.
Scott is competing against Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the race for majority leader. Senate GOP members are scheduled to hold a secret-ballot vote on Wednesday to decide the winner.
Thune and Cornyn previously have clashed with Trump, though they are pledging to work closely with him if elected leader.
Many of Trump's supporters are not buying the two senators' promises.
"Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader!" Musk posted Sunday on X while reposting Scott's pledge to "do whatever it takes" to get Trump's nominations through the Senate "as quickly as possible" by allowing the president-elect to make recess appointments.
That followed Trump saying the next Senate GOP leader "must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner."
On Saturday, Carlson took to X to say, "McConnell engineers a coup against his [Trump's] agenda by calling early leadership elections in the senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on."
Carlson added that "Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump. Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott. Don't let McConnell get away with it again."
Kennedy Jr., who has been promised a senior position in the Trump administration, commented on Carlson's comment by posting that "without Rick Scott, the entire Trump reform agenda wobbly."
Ramaswamy, who ran to become a Republican presidential candidate before it became clear Trump would be the nominee, also endorsed Scott.
"I said it in May & stand by it today: @ScottforFlorida for Senate Majority Leader.," Ramaswamy posted with a May 22 comment in which he said, "Rick Scott is *BY FAR* the best choice among those running for Senate Republican Leader. He successfully led a big business & a big state, there's no doubt he can do this job. He also possesses a very rare quality in DC: caring about what *voters* actually want. I endorse him."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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