Ron DeSantis held the line when every other Republican in America broke.
Now the senator who signed a red flag law over the NRA's objections is trying to take credit for it.
Rick Scott attacked DeSantis this week for celebrating Florida's midterm results – and what Scott is hiding about his own record is worse than anything he said.
The Man Lecturing DeSantis Handed Democrats a Gun Control Victory
Let's start with who Rick Scott actually is.
In 2018, Scott signed Florida's red flag law.
The NRA – which had given him an A+ rating – immediately filed a lawsuit to stop it.
Gun Owners of America called it a betrayal.
Conservative activists across the state were furious. Scott didn't care.
That same year, Ron DeSantis went on Fox News to criticize the law Scott signed.
https://twitter.com/DISivak/status/2120876811852607849?a=rbogIwbrqk9R0nxy1jQ&s=20
DeSantis has since said he wants to repeal it entirely.
Scott also backed amnesty.
He raised the minimum age to buy a rifle to 21.
He called for a national red flag law in a Washington Post op-ed in 2019.
DeSantis influencers who backed the governor for president in 2024 called Scott "a big government moderate" with a record that "doesn't go far enough" for conservatives.
This is the man who just went on the record to tell you DeSantis' midterm results weren't good enough.
What DeSantis Actually Did While the Rest of the Party Collapsed
Here's what happened on November 3rd. Democrats flipped Senate seats in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, and South Carolina.
They took back the House.
Republican governors went down in states that were supposed to be safe.
DeSantis called it "the political equivalent of a meteor strike" – and he was being generous.
Florida didn't just survive.
It delivered.
Byron Donalds won the governorship. Ashley Moody held her Senate seat.
Florida voters passed Amendment 3 – DeSantis's property tax relief measure that expands the homestead exemption and sets Florida on a path toward eliminating property taxes on primary residences entirely.
DeSantis credited Amendment 3 with driving Republican turnout when Democrats hit their highest midterm participation in modern Florida history.
That's what governing looks like.
Put real policy on the ballot.
https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/2120924583503307029?a=mUUSABG266vZcdOxiyo&s=20
Give voters something to show up for.
Hold the state when everyone else is losing theirs.
Scott's complaint is that Florida Republicans lost state House seats and fell short of a supermajority.
That's real.
DeSantis didn't claim it wasn't.
What DeSantis said – accurately – is that Florida was the one place Republicans kept the line of scrimmage from moving.
Scott wants you to focus on the downballot losses and ignore the fact that his successor ran the state through a political meteor strike and came out intact.
Scott Knows Exactly What He's Doing
Rick Scott didn't stumble into this interview.
He made a calculation.
DeSantis is positioning for 2028.
His entire pitch is that Florida proved conservative governance works – that the property tax cut, the regulatory environment, the Trumpian style with actual executive competence is the model the party needs.
Scott snubbed DeSantis in 2024, backed Trump instead, and now watches as DeSantis builds a national argument on the back of Florida's results.
Scott's comments are designed to kneecap that argument before it gets off the ground.
Take away DeSantis' win, and what does the governor have to run on?
The problem for Scott is the record.
He gave Florida a red flag law that the NRA sued to stop. DeSantis wants to repeal it.
https://twitter.com/AustinWells_R/status/2120534740927410182?a=gzMx93NFGaRUqgZX1Yo&s=20
Scott called for taking that law national.
DeSantis said no.
Scott tacked to the center on guns, immigration, and spending every time the establishment pushed him.
DeSantis pushed back.
Florida conservatives know who fought for them and who folded.
Rick Scott lecturing Ron DeSantis about results is the political equivalent of a benchwarmer critiquing the guy who just won the game.
The 2028 primary hasn't started yet.
But Rick Scott just made the first move – and he handed DeSantis exactly the contrast he needed.
Sources:
- David Sivak, "Rick Scott takes swipe at Ron DeSantis after midterm victory lap in Florida," Washington Examiner, November 12, 2026.
- Staff, "DeSantis credits Amendment 3 with helping Florida Republicans withstand national Democratic wave," WPTV, November 4, 2026.
- Staff, "Gov. DeSantis calls midterm losses a 'meteor strike,' says Florida held the line," CBS News Miami, November 5, 2026.
- Staff, "Will Rick Scott's record on guns hurt his candidacy for GOP leadership?" Florida Phoenix, November 12, 2024.
- Staff, "Florida Gov. Rick Scott spurns conservatives, NRA by signing new gun regulations into law," The Blaze, March 9, 2018.
- Staff, "Ron DeSantis planning another White House run," Political Wire, November 6, 2026.
