Senator Rick Scott‘s campaign says his opponent, former Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell isn’t being honest about her ties to supporters of Venezuelan communist dictator Nicolás Maduro.
At a recent event, protesters of Mucarsel-Powell were chanting “No to Debbie, no to socialism.” But according to those at the protest, a supporter of the Powell campaign confronted the anti-communist protestors yelling “Long live Maduro! Long live Chavez!”
Several of the protestors said they were there on a peaceful level felt the individual shouting at them with pro-communist chants did it as intimidation.
One of the attendees at the event, Kennedy Bolivar, said the man yelling at them was inside with the Mucarsel-Powell team, helping them set up campaign literature.
When the story went public, Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign said they had no affiliation with the man and denied any link the campaign might have had.
Other protestors at the event also confirmed that the pro-Maduro person was seen helping with the Powell event with logistics and carrying campaign signs.
Rick Scott’s campaign called the alleged link between the man and the Democratic campaign “alarming.”
“It is alarming, but not surprising, that a Maduro supporter is part of Debbie’s team,” said Scott spokeswoman Rosa Perez.
“She continues to lie about her radical socialist agenda and her record of appeasing dictators,” Perez said. “The community knows full-well who is on Debbie’s side; this outburst by the Maduro apologist at her campaign event only confirms it,” said Perez.
Over the weekend, the Scott campaign posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Not surprising; socialists stick with socialists. Despite Debbie’s attempts to distance herself from her record of socialism, we’ll make sure Florida voters don’t forget.”
