Rick Scott reportedly walked away when asked about Trump's birthright citizenship comments

President Donald Trump inhaled and blew his racist dog-whistle as hard as he could when he told the news website Axios that he plans to sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S.

And though it was good fodder for the shock factor-happy crews of cable TV news show hosts and talking heads, as well as the president's buffoonish hard-core followers, it proved to be an almost certain headache for some longtime Trump allies – for instance, term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Asked to comment on Trump's latest brainworm by a Miami Herald reporter, Scott, who's challenging Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in the Nov. 6 election, took the tried and true approach of let's-not-and-say-we-did.

That is, Scott simply opted to walk away.


Though the video above suggests Scott has a serious case of selective hearing, Scott's deputy communications director, Mara Gambineri, later explained that the governor didn't hear the question (from, according to my estimation, a maximum of four to five feet away.)

"I believe legal immigration makes us a better and stronger country, but illegal immigration does the opposite," Scott's campaign said in a statement. "I have not seen the details of what the president is suggesting and would need to fully review the proposal. While I've been clear that Florida is a great melting pot, America's immigration system is broken and Congress – including Sen. Nelson – has done nothing to fix the problem."

Scott's priorities are "securing the border" and fixing the nation's "long-broken immigration system," Scott's campaign added.

That's a tall order for a term-limited governor who's neck and neck with his opponent in most recent polling, especially considering that there have been calls to overhaul the U.S. immigration system since the George W. Bush administration and then the Barack Obama administration, all of which have managed to fail rather spectacularly.

Wouldn't it have made more sense for Scott to call to protect the U.S. Constitution, instead?

After all, the 14th Amendment states that "all persons born of naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Seems pretty straightforward.

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