Scott, Bondi condemn white supremacists, but not Trump's ‘fine people’ comments

Pam Bondi, an early Trump supporter who at times was considered for administration positions, side-stepped questions about Trump’s comments while hammering the white supremacist side of the Charlottesville clash. | Getty

Scott, Bondi condemn white supremacists, but not Trump's ‘fine people’ comments
By MATT DIXON 08/16/2017 02:59 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE — Donald Trump’s top supporters in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi, condemned white supremacy Wednesday, but refused to criticize the president's comments that “very fine people” were found among the neo-Nazis involved in last weekend's racially charged clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“You can ask President Trump what he said,” Scott told reporters when asked his thoughts about the president’s comments.

"I haven’t talked to the president since then, so you’re going to have to ask him about those comments,” Bondi said at the same time after the Florida Cabinet met.

For more than a day, Republicans across the state and nation have been under intense scrutiny to react to Trump’s statements about the nature of the protesters and his belief that there’s “blame on both sides” for violence at the Charlottesville rally organized by white supremacists.

Scott, though, is not distancing himself from Trump’s comments. He is scheduled to have lunch with the president Thursday at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, N.J.

Some in Trump’s Republican Party have criticized the comments, including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who said in a string of messages on Twitter that the white supremacist groups that organized the weekend rally are “100% to blame for a number of reasons.”

In contrast to the voluble Rubio — who had waged a failed and bitter presidential primary campaign against Trump last year — Scott was more taciturn and repeatedly told reporters they needed to talk to the president about what he said.

When a reporter clarified with Scott that he was being asked for his reaction to Trump, the governor still would not answer.

“If you want to ask President Trump what he said, you can ask him,” Scott said.

Another follow-up question about Trump’s comments was ignored by the governor, who campaigned for the president last year and has frequently met with him in the White House. Scott also led a super PAC that raised $22 million to support Trump’s campaign.

While avoiding any hint of criticism of Trump’s “fine people” comments, Scott made clear he opposed the white supremacist groups involved in the Charlottesville violence.

“It is evil. There is no place in our country for racism or bigotry,” the governor said, specifically noting neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. “There is no moral equivalency between the two sides.”

He also called the violence “disgusting” and noted that Heather Heyer, the woman killed in the clashes, was his daughter’s age.

For her part, Bondi was an earlier Trump supporter than Scott and was at times considered for administration positions. She also side-stepped questions about Trump’s comments while hammering the white supremacist side of the Charlottesville clash.

“What I can say is that the KKK, the white supremacists, the neo-Nazis, David Duke, will not be tolerated in the state of Florida, nor their actions,” she said. "And it’s sickening to me that groups like this are still thriving in our state, in our country and our world.”

Bondi did say she supported Trump making additional statements calling out white supremacist by name two days after his initial comments.

"Initially, I believe he gave the statement hours after the incident, when he said kind of a catch-all, but he didn’t state the names,” Bondi said. "I think he needed to state the organizations and he did … and these people should be condemned, there’s no place in our country for hatred bigotry or violence.”

Bondi was asked whether Trump should tone down his approach. "No one’s going to tell him what to do,” she said. "I think everyone knows that. He’s his own man.”

Republican Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who is running for governor, also would not touch Trump’s comments. During the 2016 campaign, Putnam was only a lukewarm supporter of Trump, but has gotten noticed for aligning more with the president since he started running for governor.

He denounced the “hatred activities” that occurred in Charlottesville, but did not directly address Trump’s comments.


“Good people’s hearts are not lead by hate,” Putnam said before an aide said he had to leave.

Republican state Sen. Jack Latvala, who announced his gubernatorial bid on Wednesday, said he had not heard Trump’s comments when asked if they went far enough in denouncing white supremacists.

“I was traveling yesterday,” Latvala, of Clearwater, told reporters after launching his campaign in the Miami-area city of Hialeah. “If I didn’t listen to it, how do I know if he sufficiently did it? All of us who look at his responsibly denounced it. Specifically, what he said yesterday I can’t comment on unless I saw it.”

Marc Caputo and Daniel Ducassi contributed to this report

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