Florida Governor Rick Scott is taking heat for calling President-elect Trump instead of President Obama after the tragic Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooting that left five people dead and at least eight injured on Friday. During a press conference, Scott told reporters that he called Trump and Vice President-elect Pence "multiple times" in an effort to keep them informed about the mass shooting. A reporter asked why he didn't call President Barack Obama, and he stated that he has a "personal relationship" with both Trump and Pence, so he reached out to them instead.
Other than staying informed about the situation, the President-elect has no power at this time to do anything, but Governor Scott stated that Trump told him that he and Pence would do "everything in their power" to help the governor get whatever resources were needed from the federal government.
Twitter blasts Scott for not calling Obama
Trump acknowledged on Twitter that he had spoken to Governor Rick Scott about the Florida airport shooting and then moved on to tweeting out a birthday wish to his son Eric. And while Twitter was busy calling out Trump for spending more time tweeting about Schwarzenegger's "Celebrity Apprentice" ratings than the shooting, the Florida governor got blasted on social media for calling Trump instead of Obama.
"I have a personal relationship with Vice President-elect Pence and President-elect Trump, and I reached out," Gov. Scott told reporters who asked why he passed over Obama.
A quick look at Scott's Twitter account indicates that his decision to call the President-elect about the shooting instead of the POTUS wasn't a good move.
"Governor Rick Scott apparently doesn't know we only have one president at a time," tweeted Khary Penebake. "He only called Trump, who isn't acting president."
"Rick Scott" Two term Florida "fraud" governor does not understand chain of command deliberately reaches out to Trump who is NOT POTUS.
— William S. Nall (@wsnall) January 7, 2017
Governor Rick Scott forgets @POTUS is not @realDonaldTrump and politicizes a tragedy. Disgraceful
— Latinarants (@latinarants) January 7, 2017
Governor Rick Scott of Florida, President Obama is still the president show him some respect.
— Don Salmon (@dijoni) January 7, 2017
@FLGovScott @Airbnb You are disgusting, you are using this disaster to promote Trump, by disrespecting who is in charge, President Obama.
— Loli Braun (@Lolibraun) January 7, 2017
Several hours after the shooting, President-elect Trump tweeted that he had spoken to Governor Scott about the Florida airport shooting and told people to "stay safe." VP-elect Pence jumped in on Twitter as well, sending out a standard "thoughts and prayers" message to his Twitter followers.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and our first responders in Fort Lauderdale, FL. https://t.co/0DutQItGvN
— Mike Pence (@mike_pence) January 6, 2017
