Fact check: Does the NC GOP support Scott's controversial 'Rescue America' plan?
Democrat Barbara Gaskins, who's running against Rep. Greg Murphy in North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District, said the N.C. GOP "came out in support of Sen. Scott's extremist policy to 'Rescue America." PolitiFact checks her claim.
Posted — UpdatedA North Carolina congressional candidate says the state’s Republican Party wants to raise taxes through what it characterized as “extremist” legislation proposed in the U.S. Senate.
Barbara Gaskins is a Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy in North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers a large swath of the state’s coastline. On May 24, Gaskins’ campaign tweeted:
“The N.C. GOP came out in support of Sen. Scott's extremist policy to ‘Rescue America,” the post said, referring to Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
It added that the plan would raise taxes on 40% of the state’s working class, dissolve Social Security and Medicare benefits after five years, close the U.S. Department of Education and enforce identification requirements for voting.
So does the North Carolina Republican Party endorse Scott’s so-called Rescue America plan? No.
Here are the key points of Scott’s bill and why the Democrats are trying to tie Republicans to it.
Scott’s plan
The plan called for taxing all Americans and requiring a vote to continue all federal programs, a proposal that Republican leaders have opposed. So Republican candidates have distanced themselves from it.
McConnell said in a press conference that Senate Republicans “will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people, and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years."
Scott and the N.C. GOP
When we emailed Gaskins and asked her to provide evidence for her claim about the N.C. GOP, a campaign spokeswoman cited messaging from the North Carolina Democratic Party. Scott was a featured speaker during the state GOP’s annual convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, last month.
Michael Whatley, chairman of the state GOP, says that’s not true. He told PolitiFact NC that he was glad to have Scott speak because, as chair of the senatorial committee, Scott offers unique insight into how the GOP can retake Congress this fall. But that doesn’t mean the state party endorses his bill.
“We’re not going to endorse that,” Whatley said in a phone interview.
Donna Williams, chair of the Wake County GOP, attended the event and didn’t recall Scott even mentioning his bill or its details. If Scott had mentioned a call to increase taxes, “I would absolutely remember that,” she said, saying it’s “ridiculous for anyone to suggest that inviting someone to come speak implies an across-the-board blanket endorsement of whatever legislation they have.”
Aside from Scott’s appearance at the North Carolina Republican Party convention, neither the party nor the Gaskins campaign provided any evidence that the organization had endorsed the Scott plan. In a phone interview, North Carolina Democratic Party spokeswoman Ellie Dougherty reiterated the claims from the email newsletter and said, “We think it's pretty clear where they stand.”
Our ruling
Gaskins tweeted that “the N.C. GOP came out in support of Sen. [Rick] Scott's extremist policy to ‘Rescue America.’”
Scott did release a plan that indicates support for raising income taxes and sunsetting federal programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Even McConnell rebuked the ideas.
However, there’s no evidence that the North Carolina Republican Party has come out in support of Scott’s plan.
We rate this claim False.
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