Florida Gov. Rick Scott's re-election campaign attacked Democratic challenger Charlie Crist in a new TV spot for calling the Affordable Care Act "great" in a recent interview with CNN, the
Tampa Bay Times reported.
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The 30-second ad plays a clip from the
March 9 interview in which Crist is asked if he thinks Obamacare has irreparably harmed Floridians in any way. Crist told CNN's Candy Crowley "No, I don't think so at all. I think it's been great."
Crist went on in the interview to acknowledge difficulties in the rollout and said that as the wealthiest nation in the world, the United States has a duty to provide healthcare for its citizens.
The ad also shows a front-page headline from the St. Augustine Record, a Florida newspaper, declaring that 300,000 Floridians have had their insurance canceled, though that figure was disputed by Florida Blue in a
Tampa Bay Times report.
Crist's campaign reportedly responded with a statement denouncing Republican Scott's time in office.
"When after your years, you have no record and no vision, you spend millions attacking your opponent," the statement said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. "It's the Rick Scott playbook, and Floridians have had enough."
Crist served as governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011. He was elected as a Republican but left the party in 2010, becoming an independent before later joining the Democratic Party.
He lost a 2010 campaign for the U.S. Senate. Before he was elected as Crist's successor, Scott served as CEO of hospital group Columbia/HCA. He resigned that post in 1997 after the U.S. Justice Department launched a public investigation into alleged Columbia/HCA Medicare fraud. The suit was eventually
settled for $1.7 billion.