- Sanders criticized a prominent GOP senator for unveiling an agenda with tax hikes.
- He wrote on Twitter: " Oh, yeah. They sure LOVE working people. No doubt."
- Sen. Rick Scott doubled down on his plan, escalating a feud with Mitch McConnell.
Sen. Bernie Sanders hammered a top Republican senator on Friday for unveiling an agenda that would hike taxes on millions of Americans and potentially jeopardize Social Security and Medicare.
He mocked Republicans after Sen. Rick Scott of Florida unilaterally unveiled a GOP agenda that Democrats are seizing on to cast Republicans as out-of-touch with American families. It contained a proposal that would compel every American to pay some income tax, as well as a plan that would require Congress to reauthorize programs like Social Security and Medicare every five years.
"The GOP claims to be the party of the working class," the Vermont independent wrote on Twitter. "Yet, the head of the GOP campaign arm released a plan to raise taxes on half of Americans while imposing massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and education."
He went on: "Oh, yeah. They sure LOVE working people. No doubt."
As the head of the GOP's Senate campaign arm, Scott is responsible for helping craft his party's midterm message as it tries to retake the majority. He is also widely viewed as harboring future presidential aspirations, which loom over the release and reaction to his 11-point plan.
"Bernie Sanders only knows how to do three things: lose Presidential elections, spend other people's money, and lie," Chris Hartline, a spokesperson for Scott, said in a statement to Insider.
He added Scott "looks forward" to hearing why Democrats are against his sprawling set of plans to reform the tax code, keep federal spending in check, mandate voter ID, shore up funding for law enforcement, and other conservative priorities.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell brushed back Scott's proposals earlier this week and specifically took aim at Scott's tax plan.
"I'll be the majority leader, I'll decide in consultation with my members what to put on the floor," McConnell told reporters, after Scott, who was previously standing behind him, walked away. "And let me tell you what would not be part of our agenda. We 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."
Another plank of the Scott agenda would require Congress to reauthorize every federal law after five years, a step that could imperil Social Security and Medicare should a future Congress choose not to renew the programs. But McConnell's efforts to distance the party from the Scott agenda hasn't dissuaded Democrats from taking aim at Scott and Republicans writ large.
"This is just wrong, especially at a time when American families are looking for our help in lowering costs," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier this week.
The Florida senator and former governor remains defiant. Scott wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Friday saying that Republicans "live in fear of speaking the truth in Washington."
Scott also doubled down on his measure to compel every American to pay some amount in income tax, arguing the poorest families are helping to "bankrupt" the US.
"Part of the deception is achieved by disconnecting so many Americans from taxation. It's a genius political move," he wrote in the op-ed. "And it is bankrupting us."
The Tax Policy Center modeled a hypothetical version of Scott's tax plan with a $100 minimum tax. Middle and low-income families would bear the brunt of the tax increases, the organization said.