At unpublicized campaign event, Scott fends off criticism

After a short pursuit, WINK News was able to catch up with Governor Rick Scott in Fort Myers and ask him a few questions about the water crisis, and reports that he had canceled an event in Collier County.

When asked if he accepts any responsibility for the water crisis, Governor Rick Scott had this to say:

“The red tide, as you know, is naturally occurring. So what we’ve done, we’ve spent a total of I think it’s about $17 million to do the research to try to figure it out. And done the emergency order. The algae? Absolutely Bill Nelson. Here’s a guy that set up there, wouldn’t fix the dike at Lake Okeechobee, we get the discharges 100% because he sat on his hands.”

We questioned him about protesters booing him at an event in Venice on Monday, and giving him the nickname, “Redtide Rick”, this was his response:

“First off, thank God we live in a country where everybody can express their views. This is a country that I fought and Frances fought for—making sure that everybody can get their views out.”

Politico Florida reported that Governor Scott canceled an event in Collier County, but he says he isn’t dodging his critics.

“We’ve been on the bus, I think this is our 8th or 9th day. Here in Fort Myers we’ve got a group of volunteers and Congressman Rooney to go with us. We’ve got an event later today up in the Orlando area so we’re having a lot of fun.”

Bill Nelson’s campaign strongly denies Scott’s claims. In a statement, senior Nelson adviser Dan McLaughlin said, “There is one person and one person only responsible for the green slime and it’s Rick Scott. The federal government’s role is to maintain the safety of the dike, that has nothing to do with the quality of the water.”