Rick Scott Got Dragged For Mixing Up The National Anthem And The Pledge Of Allegiance At A Rightwing Conference

The GOP has long loved to accuse Democrats of insufficient patriotism. It’s reliable red meat to toss their supporters when they have nothing else to say, or if they need to distract them from their own shortcomings. Sometimes they’re weird about it, as in Ted Cruz’s recent, inexplicable video in which he for some reason recites the Pledge of Allegiance. And sometimes they screw it up, as when former Florida governor Rick Scott recently confused the aforementioned Pledge for the National Anthem.

Scott was one of many big time Republicans who spoke at this weekend’s Faith & Freedom Coalition conference. He spent part of his speech angry over the Pledge, which he claims today’s kids don’t know. But then he got the streams crossed, lumping in an entirely separate matter: football players kneeling in support of Black Lives Matter during the National Anthem at football games.

After leading the crowd in their own recitation of the Pledge — which he briefly screwed up — he then screwed up bigly. “We’re living in a nation where these woke, rich, pampered football players are kneeling for the Pledge of Allegiance,” Scott thundered.

Scott didn’t seem to notice his mix-up, continuing to whip up the crowd, telling them that they all have to spend “part of our day” fighting against “this woke mob and radical Democrats who are trying to destroy this country and the values that we grew up with.”

But his error didn’t escape the notice of social media. Many people pointed out that a notorious Republican ex-governor doesn’t seem to know the difference between a song and a spoken recitation.

https://twitter.com/TheTattooedGrad/status/1406634438025433091

https://twitter.com/rexzane1/status/1406668595778625537

https://twitter.com/Baligubadle1/status/1406687747511816194

Others thought it belied his lack of interest in true freedom and democracy.

https://twitter.com/PropterMalone/status/1406662614013390852