Rick Scott is joining Donald Trump in court today. Here’s why.

As former President Donald Trump sits in court, he will have a friend nearby.

That friend? Rick Scott.

Scott, Florida’s Republican U.S. senator up for reelection this year, said he plans to attend the trial Thursday in a show of support.

“I support Donald Trump. This is just political persecution,” Scott said Thursday on the Fox News program Fox & Friends. “If we don’t stop this, they can go after you. Every American’s at risk. I’m going to go support this president because this is wrong, what’s happening to this guy.”

Trump is facing 34 felony counts in New York because prosecutors allege he reimbursed a former personal lawyer $130,000 in hush money payments to a porn star during the 2016 election season. Prosecutors say that reimbursement was purposely mislabeled by Trump’s company, meaning the company illegally falsified business records.

That adult film actress, Stormy Daniels, has taken the stand in recent days, much to Trump’s dismay. She will return to the stand Thursday.

Scott likened Trump’s trial to his own legal ordeal with the federal government. In the 1990s, Scott left Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., the hospital company he led at the time, amid federal allegations of fraud in the company. The company eventually pleaded guilty to 14 felonies, but Scott has maintained his innocence for years.

On Thursday, Scott said his company was persecuted by the Department of Justice because he pushed back on health care reforms being pushed by then-first lady Hillary Clinton.

“I saw this. It happened to me,” Scott said. “I fought HillaryCare, and guess what happened when I fought HIllaryCare? (The Department of Justice) came after me, attacked me and my company.”

In a post to X, Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said she agreed with the comparison between Scott and Trump — in at least one sense.

“We agree, they are both fraudsters and criminals,” Fried wrote.

This is a breaking news story that may be updated.