White House hangs up on Rick Scott as senator calls about tortured Cuban human rights activist

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The White House hung up on Sen. Rick Scott when the Republican from Florida called asking to speak to President Biden about a Cuban human rights activist currently being tortured by the Communist regime.

Scott tweeted about his hang-up by the Biden administration, blasting the White House for their “shameful cowardice” in not connecting the U.S. senator with the president on the human rights issue.

“The [White House] just hung up on me when I called to talk to someone about the horrific torture & abuse [José Daniel Ferrer] is experiencing as a prisoner of the illegitimate communist Cuban regime,” Scott tweeted on Wednesday.

Sen. Rick Scott speaks during a news conference about inflation on Capitol Hill on May 26, 2021.
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“This isn’t just weakness, it’s shameful cowardice,” the Florida senator continued. “I won’t tolerate it. #SOSCuba”

José Daniel Ferrer is a human rights activist and the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), one of the island nation’s most prominent opposition groups against the Communist Cuban regime.

Ferrer had his house arrest privileges revoked by the Communist government in August, forcing him to serve his four-year imprisonment on charges of kidnapping and assault.

When he was sentenced in 2019, the Cuban government accused Ferrer of being a counterrevolutionary funded by the U.S. government but claimed the arrest was not due to his political views.

Cuban political dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia talks with reporters during a tour of the U.S. on June 1, 2016, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Reuters reported that Ferrer said he would not comply with the condition of his house arrest to not take part in political activism.

A spokesperson for Scott confirmed to Fox News that the senator made the call asking to speak to Biden on Wednesday – his second call this week to the White House about Ferrer’s detainment and torture by the Communist Cuban government.

The spokesperson told Fox News that the senator’s initial call was met with a voicemail request, and his most recent call ended in a one-way disconnection.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

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