--- title: Rick Scott Won't Respond to Donald Trump Comment on Islam description: Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott refused to answer questions on Thursday about whether he thinks Muslims in Florida hate America canonical: https://time.com/4254236/florida-governor-rick-scott-questions-islam-america-donald-trump/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-10T18:42:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:23.472Z article:section: Politics og:title: Florida Gov. Rick Scott Won't Answer Questions on Trump's Views of Islam og:description: MSNBC ended his interview abruptly og:url: https://time.com/4254236/florida-governor-rick-scott-questions-islam-america-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdddedc301ada842d/69888a7b524fc03903df7212/rick-scott-msnbc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Florida Gov. Rick Scott Holds Bill Signing In Miami Gardens og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Florida Gov. Rick Scott Won't Answer Questions on Trump's Views of Islam twitter:description: MSNBC ended his interview abruptly twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdddedc301ada842d/69888a7b524fc03903df7212/rick-scott-msnbc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Florida Gov. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 10, 2016 6:42 PM UTC  Florida Gov. Rick Scott as he visits the Marian Center which offers services for people with intellectual disabilities on July 13, 2015 in Miami Gardens, Fla. Florida Gov. Rick Scott as he visits the Marian Center which offers services for people with intellectual disabilities on July 13, 2015 in Miami Gardens, Fla. Joe Raedle/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 10, 2016 6:42 PM UTC Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott [declined to directly answer questions](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-news/watch/florida-governor-explains-why-he-hasn-t-endorsed-641241667979?cid=sm%5Ftw%5Fmojoe) about whether he thinks Muslims in Florida hate America, leading MSNBC to end an interview early on Thursday. Scott skirted several questions about Islamic attitudes toward the U.S. during the interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” choosing instead to describe Florida as a “melting pot” where various demographics get along. The questions followed [comments made Wednesday](http://time.com/4253839/donald-trump-islam-hates-us-interview/) by Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, who accused Islam of hating the western world. “I think Islam hates us,” Trump said, supporting his [proposed temporary ban on Muslims](http://time.com/4139476/donald-trump-shutdown-muslim-immigration/) entering the U.S. “There is a tremendous hatred there. We have to get to the bottom of it.” In the Thursday interview, Joe Scarborough asked Scott if he would tell Trump to “walk back” the comments. In response, Scott said he opposes the immigration of Syrian refugees who haven’t been fully vetted. “Do you personally think that Islam is a religion that hates America?” Scarborough said. “We have a lot of Muslims that live in our state. We’ve got a lot of Latin Americans that live in our state,” Scott said. “We all get along. We love people moving to our state and coming here as tourists. We’re a great melting pot. That’s what I can tell you about our state.” > [](https://twitter.com/Morning%5FJoe/status/707911577932931072) Earlier in the segment, Scott declined to endorse a candidate for the Republican nomination, saying he trusted voters to make the best decision. Watch the video [here](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-news/watch/florida-governor-explains-why-he-hasn-t-endorsed-641241667979?cid=sm%5Ftw%5Fmojoe). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4254236/florida-governor-rick-scott-questions-islam-america-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4254236/florida-governor-rick-scott-questions-islam-america-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Florida Gov. 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