Tim Scott set to endorse Donald Trump amid speculation he could be running mate

Daily Telegraph UK

20 Jan, 2024 12:03 AM3 mins to read

Tim Scott was expected to speak with Donald Trump at a rally in Concord, New Hampshire. Photo / AP

Tim Scott, the former presidential candidate, was set to endorse Donald Trump amid speculation he is being lined up as a running mate.

The South Carolina senator’s planned endorsement came as Boris Johnson said a second Trump term would be “a big win for the world” and celebrated his landslide victory in the Iowa caucuses this week.

Scott, who ran against Trump in the early stages of the race, was expected to speak with the former president at a rally in Concord, New Hampshire.

Polls show a fifth of black voters considering voting for Donald Trump if he wins the nomination. Photo / AP

Although he declined to comment on the rumours, a source told the New York Times he had come to back the former president’s campaign after telling reporters in November he would not endorse a candidate “any time soon”.

Scott is the only black Republican in the Senate, and may help Trump’s campaign win more support among black voters. Polls show support for Joe Biden among ethnic minority voters is drifting, with a fifth of black voters considering voting for Trump if he wins the nomination.

Tim Scott was expected to speak with Donald Trump at a rally in Concord, New Hampshire. Photo / AP

Some polls put Trump neck and neck with Nikki Haley in New Hampshire, which will become the second state to vote on its preferred Republican nominee. Trump won the first vote in Iowa by a landslide, receiving more than half of votes cast.

Scott, who has widespread support among conservative evangelical Christian voters, is under discussion as a possible vice-president in Trump’s planned second administration.

He is also formerly a close ally of Haley, and was appointed to the Senate under her governorship of South Carolina in 2012.

The news came as Johnson published an article in the Daily Mail, calling for an end to opposition to Trump from the “global wokerati”.

“Reasonable people can see that Trump is not, actually, a would-be dictator, and they have come to resent what look like legalistic ruses to axe him as a candidate,” Johnson wrote.

Scott decided to endorse Trump after hearing pitches from each of the three remaining contenders for the Republican nomination, including Haley and Ron DeSantis, the New York Times reported.

Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally and fellow senator in South Carolina, is understood to have argued for the former president, while Haley made her own representations.

Potential running mate

Trump sparked frenzied speculation over his potential running mate after telling a town hall event in Iowa that he had already chosen a person, but refusing to name them.

Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaks at a caucus night party in Des Moines, Iowa. Photo / AP

Others in contention are thought to be Kristi Noem and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governors of South Dakota and Arkansas, and Elise Stefanik, a high-profile Republican representative from New York.

Trump’s allies have talked down earlier speculation that he could choose Haley, his former UN ambassador, as a running mate, while Melania Trump is understood to have pushed for him to choose Tucker Carlson, a conservative media personality.

Scott’s endorsement is likely to have an impact on the primary race in South Carolina, which will vote next month. He has a 78 per cent favourability rating in the state, polls show.

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