TALLAHASSEE, FL (THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA) -- Gov. Rick Scott expressed disapproval of lewd comments by Donald Trump that emerged Friday, but stopped short of condemning the Republican presidential hopeful.
Scott chairs a super PAC backing the GOP nominee.
“I think what he said was wrong,” Scott said while making an appearance at Jacksonville's Cecil Field to discuss Hurricane Matthew recovery efforts. “I don't know why anybody would say things like that. I think it's absolutely wrong.”
But when asked if he still supported Trump, Scott turned back to Hurricane Matthew recovery.
“There is going to be a time for politics,” Scott said. “Right now we've got one million people, I think, still without power. We're working hard to get everybody back to work. There will still be plenty of time for politics when this is over.”
Trump was recorded making lewd and sexually aggressive remarks in 2005 while taking part in an unaired segment for “Access Hollywood.” Video of his recorded remarks was released Friday, causing a firestorm throughout the political arena.
After issuing a statement on Friday in which he “apologized if anyone was offended,” Trump, who has struggled to attract female voters, issued a defiant 90-second video early Saturday, apologizing and calling the 2005 tape a “distraction.”
“I've never said I'm a perfect person nor pretended to be someone that I'm not. I've said and done things I regret and the words released today, on this more than a decade old video, are one of them,” he said in the video released by his campaign. “I was wrong and I apologize,” he added.
Trump also attempted to shift from his own gaffe, which elicited condemnation from numerous fellow Republicans, to the conduct of former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, the Democratic presidential nominee.
“I've said some foolish things but there is a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women,” he asserted.
For Scott, the question about Trump's recorded comment is the second political issue he's sidestepped this week by focusing on Matthew.
Scott said Thursday and Friday he had no intention of extending the state's voter registration period, despite being urged to do so by the Clinton campaign, Democratic members of Florida's Congressional delegation, the League of Women Voters of Florida and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
Tuesday is the last day to register in Florida for the Nov. 8 election.
