Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) is angling to run as Trump’s vice president in 2024. “Well, I think everybody wants to be on President Trump’s bandwagon without any question,” Scott recently said when asked if he had any interest in being on the ticket.
Scott, who has condemned President Trump’s tweets on multiple occasions, has been singing the former president’s praises as of late. “I enjoy a healthy relationship with the president, and I am thankful for that,” Scott told Maria Bartiromo during a recent Fox News appearance. “The truth is that we should spend our time creating the contrast between 2016 and 2020 when President Trump led us to the most inclusive economy in the history of America — 7 million jobs created, two-thirds going to African-Americans, Hispanics, and to women.”
“Does that mean you would be willing to join his ticket? Are you going to run in 2024, or would you be open to a vice presidential role in a Trump ticket?” Bartiromo then asked. Though Scott did not answer directly, he did say that anyone would be happy to hop on “Trump’s bandwagon.”
Scott has criticized Trump on numerous occasions in the past, however. After the 2020 election, Scott opted not to stand with a group of his GOP Senate colleagues who were backing a challenge to the election results. “As I read the Constitution, there is no constitutionally viable means for the Congress to overturn an election wherein the states have certified and sent their Electors. Some of my colleagues believe they have found a path, and while our opinions differ, I do not doubt their good intentions to take steps towards stamping out voter fraud,” Scott said in a statement at the time. “Importantly, I disagree with their method both in principle and in practice. For their theory to work, Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats would have to elect Donald Trump president rather than Joe Biden. That is not going to happen, not today or any other day.”
In June 2020, Scott criticized Trump for using tear gas to disperse BLM rioters from Washington D.C.’s Lafayette Square. The rioters had assailed the White House just hours before, injuring dozens of Secret Service agents. They also set fire to D.C.’s historic St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral. The next day, riot police dispersed the mob with tear gas, at which point Trump walked through the cleared lane and posed with a bible outside the church.
Historic St. John's Church in DC across from the White House is set on firepic.twitter.com/9Ci6ljzveR
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 28, 2021
Trump’s crackdown on violent BLM rioters led to criticism from General Mark Milley, but also from Tim Scott. “If your question is, should you use tear gas to clear a path so the president can go have a photo-op, the answer is no,” Scott said when asked about the incident.
Tim Scott has also endorsed BLM talking points and painted himself as a figure who can deliver “police reform” that will satisfy both sides of the aisle. “I know what it feels like to be pulled over for no reason. To be followed around a store while I’m shopping,” Scott said during his nationally televised rebuttal to Biden’s Congressional address last year. “Believe me, I know firsthand our healing is not finished. In 2015 after the shooting of Walter Scott, I wrote a bill to fund body cameras. Last year after the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, I built an even bigger police reform proposal,” Scott said.
The Senator then blamed Democrats and seemed to insinuate they aren’t tough enough. “But my Democratic colleagues blocked it. I extended an olive branch, I offered amendments. But Democrats used a filibuster to block the debate from even happening. My friends across the aisle all seem to want the issue more than they wanted a solution,” Scott added.
Though he has endorsed the narrative of systemic racism, Tim Scott has also said that America “is not a racist country.”
Every American should watch this brilliant speech.
"Hear me clearly. America is not a racist country. It’s backward to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. It’s wrong to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present." -Sen Tim Scott pic.twitter.com/lkfrJmr5iL
— Jason Rantz on Seattle Red (@jasonrantz) April 29, 2021
It is unclear whether Trump intends to run in 2024, though he has hinted at a campaign on several occasions. Most recently, Trump told CPAC attendees that he might have to win for a “third time.” Several names have at least signaled interest in running on a Trump 2024 ticket in addition to Tim Scott.
