Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott told “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Thursday that Senate Republicans are going to pass the SAVE Act to mandate voter ID and verification of citizenship to register to vote, and if Democrats want to stop it, they’ll have to do a talking filibuster. “The concept that you don’t have to show your ID to vote is foreign,” Scott said. “We’re going to get this done. The president is on board. He knows we have to use the talking filibuster to get his agenda done.” “Is it a pain in the rear? Yeah. But so what? This is a full-time job. We ought to be busting our tails every day for the American people. This is a very important piece of legislation that’s going to save this country,” Scott said. “You’re being too nice. The Democrats know they can’t win wit their polciies, they want fraud to win. The only explanation is they want to cheat.” “If you want to talk, have at it. But when you’re done talking, we are going to vote, and it’s going to take 50 votes plus the vice president to pass legislation or nominations.”

ANDREW KOLVET: There was a clip yesterday-this is Leader Thune, and he’s talking about the pushback he’s getting from Democrats on the SAVE Act in the Senate. JOHN THUNE, U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Their political base is demanding they fight with anything that President Trump wants. It is Trump derangement syndrome. It is on steroids around here these days, and even logical, commonsensical things like ensuring that if you’re going to vote in an American election, you ought to be an American citizen-they’re going to just instinctively oppose. So that’s what we’re up against. ANDREW KOLVET: So no mention there, Senator, of maybe getting rid of the zombie filibuster, as Senator Lee has called it. There’s no talk of putting it in a reconciliation bill. That did not inspire a lot of confidence for me. The floor is yours. What’s the status of this highly popular policy? SEN. RICK SCOTT: Well, we’re going to get it passed. I don’t know how we’re going to get it done, but Senator Mike Lee and I are focused on this every day. A lot of our friends in the House are focused on this. You have to have an ID to get on an airplane. You ought to have an ID to vote. You shouldn’t be able to register to vote if you can’t prove your citizenship. I wouldn’t vote for Macron in France or Starmer in the UK, but I don’t get to vote for them. So you shouldn’t get to vote if you’re here illegally. We have to use the talking filibuster. It’s not changing the rules; it’s enforcing the rules. It’s just saying, if you want to stop or slow down the process, you can go talk. But this idea that you don’t have to talk and we have to wait for 60 votes to show up is wrong. We’re going to keep talking about it. You saw the president’s post about it last night: if Democrats want to slow something down, they’re going to have to talk on the floor. We have got to get things passed that are good for this country. We’ve got to secure the border. We’ve got to get Homeland Security funded. We’ve got to get ICE funded. We’ve got to pass the SAVE America Act. If Democrats are not going to work with us, then we have to use the talking filibuster to get it done. ANDREW KOLVET: Let’s go into what the talking filibuster is. We had Senator Lee on the show when he first floated this idea, and it sounds pretty straightforward. But take a step back. We think of 60 votes to break cloture as just assumed-you need 60 votes to do anything in the Senate. That’s not really true. Obviously we have reconciliation, but if you look at the history it started in like 1917 when they started using this, and very sparingly. But in our modern era we think we need 60 votes, and in our divided world we can’t get 60 votes on anything. Explain to the audience what it’s like in the Senate. What’s the workaround? How do you get this done? Is there support to get rid of this zombie filibuster? SEN. RICK SCOTT: Number one, if this is important to you, you need to call your senator and let them know the SAVE America Act-or any bill you think is important-has to get passed, and you’ve got to use the talking filibuster to get it done. All we’re going to do is require Democrats to do what they should do. The filibuster was simply a decision by the Senate to say, at some point, we’re going to stop talking and we’re going to vote. Clarence Thomas got two votes, right? But they didn’t use the filibuster process to prevent him from ever having a vote. If you want to talk, have at it. But when you’re done talking, we are going to vote, and it’s going to take 50 votes plus the vice president to pass legislation or nominations. We’ve already changed the rules on nominations because Democrats were blocking everything. They don’t want Trump to get anything done. They want to shut down the government. They don’t want a good economy. We have to do this. And by the way, if we want to save this country, we’ve got to make sure people feel comfortable that our elections are fair. The concept that you don’t have to show your ID to vote is foreign. Americans believe you have to do this-Republicans and Democrats alike. And that’s what we’re going to get done. I’m going to keep fighting. Senator Lee is going to keep fighting. The president is on board. He knows we have to use the talking filibuster to get his agenda done. ANDREW KOLVET: So that’s your word to the audience-that this will get done. Do you believe Senator Thune is ready for that type of battle? SEN. RICK SCOTT: Well, we haven’t done it yet, so I tell everybody: in DC, until it happens, be hopeful, but take action. Call every senator and say you’ve got to get the SAVE America Act passed. If you can’t get Democrats to help-and they’re not going to-then you’ve got to do it through the talking filibuster. Is it a pain? It’s a pain in the rear. But so what? This is a full-time job. We ought to be busting our tails every day for the American people. This is a very important piece of legislation that’s going to save this country. ANDREW KOLVET: I completely agree. And by the way, it’s massively popular-even Democrats’ own voters support it — even black Americans, even though the big push back is it “Jim Crow 2.0.” HARRY ENTEN, CNN: Favor photo ID to vote. Eighty-five percent of white voters, 82% of Latinos, 76% of black Americans favor it. The bottom line is this: voter ID is not controversial in this country. A photo ID to vote is not controversial by party and not controversial by race. The vast majority of american agree with Nicki Minaj that you should have a photo ID to vote. ANDREW KOLVET: I guess they’re just going with black people and married women are too dumb to get photo ID, and Republicans are racist? SEN. RICK SCOTT: No, you’re being too nice. The Democrats know they can’t win wit their polciies, they want fraud to win. The only explanation is they want to cheat. That’s it. ANDREW KOLVET: Kill the zombie filibuster and make them go on the floor and defend the indefensible. SEN. RICK SCOTT: They want to defund ICE. They don’t care about the American public. How could you want to defund ICE when you hear stories like Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungaray-or children being raped-and then say you don’t want ICE to have the ability to remove these criminals? It’s the craziest thing in the world. ANDREW KOLVET: Quick question, Senator, on the DHS funding-where do we stand? SEN. RICK SCOTT: Nowhere. They’re not getting funded. Democrats want to shut this stuff down. They want to destroy the Trump presidency. They don’t care about the crime coming into this country. They’re fine with open borders, criminals, and gangs. But there are wonderful people who want to come here legally, and we have a process for that. And we can improve that. But the Democrats will not fund ICE. Their proposals make no sense. They dn’t ask local law enforcement to do these things, why as ICE to do it?

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