'Time for bold change': Rick Scott launches bid to oust Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader

United States Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) on Tuesday sent a letter to Senate Republicans asking that they choose him as the next head of their caucus.

"I believe it’s time for the Senate Republican Conference to be far more bold and resolute than we have been in the past. We must start saying what we are for, not just what we are against. I do not believe we can simply continue to say the Democrats are radical, which they are. Republican voters expect and deserve to know our plan to promote and advance conservative values. We need to listen to their calls for action and start governing in Washington like we campaign back at home," wrote Scott, whose relationship with current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) deteriorated over disagreements about the GOP's approach to this year's midterm elections.

The party's historically poor performance in last Tuesday's contests – particularly among candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump – has unleashed a torrent of criticism of McConnell, whom Trump despises. Axios noted that Trump "is expected to lean hard on his Senate allies to back Scott over McConnell" if he announces his next run for the White House on Tuesday evening.

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"Like each of you, I am deeply disappointed by the results of the recent election," Scott continued. "Despite what the armchair quarterbacks on TV will tell you, there is no one person responsible for our party’s performance across the country. I know there is no shortage of people who are eager to point fingers and assign blame here in Washington, but I won’t be one of them. It’s unproductive and a massive waste of time. We know that chief among our problems in races across America was a lack of Republican voter turnout."

Scott and McConnell clashed in the spring when Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, published a right-wing agenda without McConnell's input or approval.

Scott's view is that McConnell has failed to offer American voters an alternative to the progressive policies put forth by Democrats, who will retain their majority in the Senate and only narrowly lost control of the House of Representatives.

Scott argued that the Republican Party's constituents "are begging us to tell them what we will do when we are in charge. Unfortunately, we have continued to elect leadership who refuses to do that and elicits attacks on anyone that does. That is clearly not working and it’s time for bold change. The voters are demanding it."

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