MAGA-aligned U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), a supporter of President Trump’s war against Iran, said at the Semafor World Economy conference that he appreciates the President’s efforts to “get rid” of Iran’s nuclear weapons. Scott said, “I don’t want to die by a nuclear weapon from Iran.”
Scott also approved of Trump’s strategy in the region, saying the President’s plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz “is fine from my standpoint,” and that “if no oil ever goes to China again, and their economy is destroyed, that would be a really wonderful day for me.”
“I think blocking the Strait of Hormuz is fine from my standpoint,” @SenRickScott tells @burgessev.
“If no oil ever goes to China again, and their economy is destroyed, that would be a really wonderful day for me.” pic.twitter.com/mfeGZwwSrf
— Semafor (@semafor) April 13, 2026
The Scott video clip (above) is drawing public backlash.
Army veteran and “Eisenhower Republican” Jody Hopkins replied: “Sure, destroying China’s economy would also destroy Walmart’s economy. We keep hearing from these clowns that we are in for ‘a little pain for a long term gain’. What pain is Scott suffering? I wish we had a Billionaire Tax so maybe he might feel a ‘little pain.’”
Another Scott critic replied: “It’s not going to destroy their economy, it will inspire them into military action before that happens.”
Another commenter, betraying no specific political allegiance, asked more generally: “Why would you want to destroy your largest trading partner?”
[NOTE: Scott isn’t the first U.S. Senator to celebrate the potential impact of the Iran war on economic rival China; Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said at the war’s outset that Trump wanted to stop China from getting oil.]
In another response, a commenter accused the Senator of practicing schadenfreude: “What kind of person would hope for another country’s collapse instead of making his own country better?”