gov. rick scott. | ap photo/wilfredo lee, file says bondi should be considered for high-level post by christine sexton 11/09/16 05:01 pm est gov. rick scott on wednesday said he would turn down any job offered by president-elect donald trump, but singled out attorney general pam bondi as someone trump should consider as he builds his administration. scott, a former hospital executive, said he wouldn<u+2019>t accept a position as the head of the u.s. department of health and human services, which would put him atop of the federal medicare and medicaid programs. story continued below <u+201c>i<u+2019>ve got 789 days left in this job,<u+2019><u+2019> said scott, who was re-elected in 2014. <u+201c>i ran hard to get this job twice. i really believe in this state.... i<u+2019>ll do anything i can for president-elect donald trump to be successful (but) i like this job and i want to finish this job." in a stunning and historic win, trump defeated democrat hillary clinton, winning the key battleground states of florida, pennsylvania and ohio. scott, like trump, was opposed by leading officials in the republican party when he initially ran for governor in 2010 and he noted the similarities between his victory for governor and trump<u+2019>s bid for president. <u+201c>trump prevailed like we were able to in 2010 because we focused on what americans care about; they care about jobs. they care about making this country great again,<u+201d> scott said, adding that he was <u+201c>grateful<u+201d> trump won florida. scott endorsed trump shortly after he won the march presidential primary in florida, where he trounced sen. marco rubio. he then became chairman of the super pac, rebuilding america now, that ran ads in several battleground states, including florida and pennsylvania. <u+201c>the political elites are shocked and a lot of them are dismayed,<u+2019><u+2019> scott said. <u+201c>they just couldn<u+2019>t believe this was happening to them but the american public has stood up and said <u+2018>we<u+2019>re going to take our country back again.<u+201d> while he made clear that he had no intention of joining a trump cabinet, scott did praise bondi as a <u+201c>wonderful<u+201d> person worthy of consideration. <u+201c>she works her tail off,<u+201d> trump said of bondi, who was the first high-profile republican in florida to endorse trump. <u+201c>if i were president elect trump, it<u+2019>s someone i would look at.<u+201d> bondi, like scott, was elected in 2010. she is term limited out of office in 2018. bondi<u+2019>s ties to trump came under scrutiny in connection with a $25,000 campaign contribution made to her re-election campaign at the same time her office said it was examining fraud allegations against trump university that it ultimately didn<u+2019>t pursue. bondi later told reporters that the contribution, made to her political committee amid her 2014 reelection campaign, had no bearing on her office<u+2019>s decision to not join a civil fraud lawsuit filed by new york attorney general eric schneiderman against trump university, which was defunct by the time she first took office in 2011. marc caputo's must-read briefing on what's hot, crazy or shady about politics in the sunshine state.
scott not interested in cabinet post in trump administration
christine sexton