Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., blasted Vice President Kamala Harris in a tweet, saying it’s "embarrassing how long she has avoided the crisis" at the southern border.
His comments came in a Wednesday Twitter post as Harris gets set to visit the southern border. He wrote: "It’s about time that @VP does her job. It’s embarrassing how long she has avoided the crisis she and (President Joe) Biden created. Now, VP Harris needs to see the crisis she’s helped create firsthand."
Harris' first official visit to the border is set for Friday, according to reports, just days before former President Donald Trump visits with Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott. Harris has been heavily criticized for not visiting the southern border in the three months since being tasked with leading the White House border response by Biden.
Harris earlier this month visited Guatemala and Mexico, but her visit there came under scrutiny for her flipping to the Trump administration mantra, warning those seeking to migrate to the United States: "Do not come."
In a speech on the Senate floor, Scott said: "Trust me, I’m glad the vice president seems to be taking my advice and finally listening to the American people," he said. "I truly hope that she gets down to the border to see the crisis first-hand that her administration and their failed policies have created.
"Hope she meets with the National Border Patrol Council and hears from them what our brave CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) agents are going through every single day to keep us safe. Hope she meets with border community sheriffs, who are responsible for keeping our families safe. Hope she takes an aerial tour, like I did, and sees the gaps in the wall. Hope she meets with families who have tragically lost ones from the massive amounts of fentanyl that the cartels are moving across our border.
"More than anything I hope this isn’t a political stunt. What’s happening at the border is a crisis. There’s simply no other word for it."