Rick Scott issued a new attack on a Georgia Democratic Senator Tuesday, in the latest sign that the 2022 campaign has gone to the dogs.
Scott, the Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee who has in the past faced frustrating questions about his own canine connections, pointed out Warnock’s borrowing of a supporter’s beagle in a campaign ad as an attack.
“Raphael Warnock? A Marxist. And he is lying about his record. He ran as a middle-of-the-road guy in 2020. He had a nice ad with a little dog, which he doesn’t even own,” Scott said on Tuesday’s Guy Benson Show on Fox News Radio.
Scott was amplifying misinformation refuted just last month by a CNN fact check, which blamed Republican nominee Herschel Walker for starting the drama on Twitter by saying the dog had been missing since Warnock’s election.
“Warnock did not lie about having a dog. CNN could find no evidence that Warnock ever claimed that Alvin was his own dog. Nor could the fact-checking website PolitiFact earlier this year. Warnock’s campaign says he never made such a claim. And Walker’s campaign did not respond to a CNN request to provide any evidence that Warnock did,” the fact check contended.
Interestingly, Scott found a four-legged running mate in his first campaign for Florida Governor in 2010. Rescue dog Reagan, named for the 20th century Republican President, lived briefly at the Governor’s Mansion before he was removed.
“He was a rescue dog,” Scott told the Tampa Bay Times, “and he couldn’t be around anybody that was carrying anything, and so he wouldn’t get better.”
Scott had adopted the dog after winning the Republican nomination in the Governor’s race. The Times noted that the name Reagan was selected after the question was posed to Scott’s Facebook followers.
“The Scott family is proud to announce that the name (chosen by you) for their newly adopted pup is Reagan! Thanks to everyone who participated in the fun contest,” then-candidate Scott announced.
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This post was authored by A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics.