Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Democratic challenger Charlie Crist traded shots Saturday over their policies toward Cuba.
In a Friday appearance on HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher," Crist said that it was time to end the U.S. embargo with Cuba.
“I mean the embargo has been there – what – 50 years now?," Crist asked. "I don’t think it worked. It is is obvious to me that we need to move forward and I think get the embargo taken away. Really. I believe that."
Scott was quick to jump on Crist's comments, releasing a statement calling his challenger's remarks "insulting."
“The suggestion that Cuban Americans need to be ‘stood up to’ is insulting,” Scott said, according to CNN. “Our Cuban community needs to be stood up FOR.”
According to SaintPetersBlog, Crist was equally quick in firing back. His camp said the embargo policy has sparked a long period of "tyrannical rule."
“If Rick Scott wants the Cuban people to be free, he should stop supporting a policy that has left them under tyrannical rule for more than fifty years,” Crist said, according to the blog. “His entrenched, failed policy just strengthens the dictatorship’s grip over access to freedom and lets China strengthen its footprint just 90 miles from Florida.”
As of Wednesday, HuffPost Pollster's latest compilation of 14 publicly available polls showed Crist holding a six-point edge over Scott.
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