Rick Scott: Paul Pelosi assault is 'despicable' and 'unacceptable'

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, condemned the assault on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's, D-Calif., husband Paul Pelosi, calling it "despicable" and "unacceptable."

In an interview on "This Week" Sunday, Scott told anchor Martha Raddatz that he had explored allowing campaign funds to be used for security and called for a more civilized public discourse.

"Well, we've got to figure out how to bring our country back together where we have a civil conversation and we have no violence. I mean, what happened to Paul Pelosi is despicable, it's unacceptable," he said.

"One thing I did when I got this job in January 2021, I went to the Federal Election Commission and said, 'could our senators and House members, could they use their campaign dollars to pay for security for themselves and their family?'" Scott told Raddatz. "Unfortunately, it's become a more dangerous place, and we've got to do everything we can to lower the rhetoric have a civil conversation, but also make sure people are safe."

Scott's remarks come after Paul Pelosi was attacked at his and the speaker's home in San Francisco by a man who entered the house saying, "where's Nancy" before striking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, police said. Paul Pelosi underwent successful surgery for a skull fracture and other injuries and is anticipated to make a full recovery.

Several Republicans condemned the assault -- though former President Donald Trump has remained silent -- and the attacker, identified as 42-year-old David Depape, has been charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and elderly abuse.

Looking toward the midterms, Scott also boasted that the GOP could hold as many as 52 Senate seats in the next Congress, saying he was eyeing flips in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire as well as possibly in Connecticut, Colorado and Washington. Scott also said Pennsylvania's Senate race between Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, D, and GOP nominee Mehmet Oz is the "hardest" of the GOP seats to hold, but still expressed confidence.

"The Democrat agenda is very unpopular," Scott said. "Turnout looks better for the Republicans than Democrats. So, I'm very optimistic that we're going to win. We have great candidates."

"I think the Democrats are going to get a rude awakening on November 8."

When pressed by Raddatz on whether a Republican-controlled Congress would focus on investigating the Biden administration, Scott said a priority would be placed on economic issues as well as culture war battles like on immigration and support for law enforcement.

"What would you hope is that we figure out how to get inflation down. That means we have to live within our means. What you hope is that we get a secure border, we can get some immigration reform done, but you can't do without a secure border. You hope that we start supporting law enforcement," he said. "So, I'm hopeful that Republicans will pass good legislation and Joe Biden will sign it."

Scott also advocated for some tighter voting laws to restore what he said was dropping public confidence in elections' integrity despite no evidence of the widespread fraud alleged by some Republicans.

"I've tried make sure we make sure people feel comfortable that we have free and fair elections," he said. "We've got to do that by passing ID laws, making sure we don't have ballot harvesting, make sure we have monitored drop boxes."