Is Tim Scott’s Endorsement of Trump a Play to Be His Running Mate?
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) will reportedly endorse former President Donald Trump’s bid to reprise his role as commander-in-chief at a rally in New Hampshire on Friday.
His decision came as a surprise to some, given the fact that Scott’s professed beliefs on a wide variety of issues align more closely with former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s platform than Trump’s, as well as the fact that it is Haley who elevated Scott to national prominence when she appointed him to the Senate in 2013.
But Puck’s Tara Palmeri shed more light on the choice on X.
“Sources close to Trump have been telling me for weeks that Tim Scott is top of their short list for Vice President,” revealed Palmeri.
Sources close to Trump have been telling me for weeks that Tim Scott is top of their short list for Vice President. The endorsement is also a well-timed burn against his frenemy Nikki Haley who plucked him from obscurity and appointed him Senator when she was governor of SC https://t.co/W61zJtuu0F
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) January 19, 2024
Back in May 2023, Trump welcomed Scott to the race relatively amiably since they viewed him as a bigger threat to the prospects of the other, more viable challengers than the former president.
Before running his own doomed presidential campaign, Scott signaled to Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo that he would be open to joining his ticket in 2024 during a February 2022 interview.
“I think everybody wants to be on President Trump’s bandwagon, without any question,” Scott told Bartiromo after being asked about the prospect. “One of the things I said to the president is he gets to decide the future of our party and our country because he is still the loudest voice. What I hope happens is we rally around the principles that lead to our greatest success. I am not looking for a seat on a ticket at this point. I am however looking to be re-elected in South Carolina so my hope is that you win next Friday’s football game before thinking about any other one.”
