Scott runs counter to Trump during Bonita Springs visit

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. — Gov. Rick Scott appeared to contradict fellow Republican Donald Trump on jobs, voter fraud and the legitimacy of the presidential election Thursday while visiting Southwest Florida.

Scott, the national chairman of the pro-Trump Rebuilding America Now Super PAC, said he expected all of the candidates to accept the results of the election. Trump, in his third and final debate with Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, refused to say whether he would do so.

The governor also expressed confidence in the ability of the state’s supervisors of elections to deliver fair and accurate results. Trump has said that he believes the election will be rigged against him.

“Look, there’s always bad apples out there, there’s always people trying to do the wrong thing, but you know we’re gonna work every day to make sure we have a fair election,” Scott said.

Scott spoke at the Bonita Springs headquarters of Herc Rentals, an equipment rental company that recently spun off from Estero-based Hertz. He touted numbers that run counter to Trump’s suggestion Thursday that “jobs are being sucked out” of Florida.

“You look at all of the places that I just left — you go to Pennsylvania, you go to Ohio, you go to Florida, you go to any of them, you go to upstate New york — our jobs have fled to Mexico and other places,” Trump said.

Scott said he didn’t watch the debate but said Florida is creating jobs at a higher rate than the rest of the country.

“Well, let’s look at the numbers. The facts are the facts. Our unemploment’s gone from over 10 percent to 4.7 percent,” Scott said. “Now look, we’re doing way better than the rest of the country. I mean our job growth rate generally runs between 3.2 and 3.6 percent. The country’s generally down under 2 percent.”

The governor was an enthusiastic supporter of Trump in July, when a press release from the Super PAC touted Scott’s involvement.

“It’s time for us to fire the politicians,” Scott said in that release. “That’s what this election is all about, and that’s why I am excited to chair the Rebuilding America Now Super PAC to help Donald Trump.”