GOP Senator Makes Odd Claim on World Cup Fans Insulting Trump: ‘They Probably Can’t Do It In Their Countries’

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) claimed that World Cup fans who have been disparaging President Donald Trump “probably can’t do it in their countries.”

In videos circulating online this week, hundreds of Australian fans are seen shouting, “Aussie boys are on a bender, Donald Trump is a sex offender.” One social media user alleged that approximately 10,000 Australian fans participated in the chant in Vancouver as Australia played against Türkiye.

On Thursday, Congressional reporter Pablo Manríquez asked Scott, “What do you make of these fans who are showing up here and disparaging the president, calling him a sex offender?”

Scott, a staunch Trump supporter, said he hadn’t seen this footage while making the jab, likely alluding to a lack of free speech to criticize authority figures in countries outside the U.S.

“Look, it’s great that we get to host the World Cup,” he said. “Now I want America to win. Look, if you come to our country, you ought to be respectful of our president. Think about it, they probably can’t do it in their countries.”

Manríquez clarified that the Australians, whose country relies on an implied freedom of political communication within their legal framework, were seen chanting in the videos, to which Scott responded with, “yeah, yeah.”

While Scott said he had considered attending some games, he said he probably will not do so, though he added, “My grandkids are all going.”

In the same conversation, Manríquez asked Scott what he makes of the reported Iran deal.

“I am very optimistic,” Scott said. “Remember, it’s a memorandum of understanding. I know what Trump wants to get done. He wants to make sure they don’t have nuclear weapons, they can’t destroy us, the Strait is open, they don’t have money, or they don’t have an attitude, to support the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas. Now, I personally would think they ought to reimburse us for the cost of our military operations because they caused it.”

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