South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination who dropped out of the race in November, has endorsed former President Donald Trump ahead of next week’s New Hampshire primary.
“We need a president who sees Americans as one American family, and that’s why I came to the very warm state of New Hampshire to endorse the next president of the United States, President Donald Trump,” Scott said at a conference center in the frigid state that will hold the first primary on Tuesday.
Scott is the latest in a string of former 2024 presidential hopefuls to back Trump as the former president looks to secure the GOP nomination against rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy endorsed Trump after ending his own campaign following a fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, while North Dakota Gov. Ron Burgum backed the former president ahead of Iowa.
News of the endorsement was first reported by The New York Times. A source familiar with the decision confirmed to Spectrum News.
Trump, Haley and DeSantis were reportedly lobbying for Scott’s support in recent days ahead of the New Hampshire primary, and his backing could prove pivotal ahead of next month’s South Carolina primary, another early contest in the nominating calendar. It also comes as a blow to Haley, who as governor of the Palmetto State appointed Scott to the U.S. Senate in 2012 after the retirement of Jim DeMint.
"Interesting that Trump’s lining up with all the Washington insiders when he claimed he wanted to drain the swamp," Haley said following news of Scott's endorsement. "But the fellas are gonna do what the fellas are gonna do."
Scott was an ally of President Trump’s in the U.S. Senate during his tenure in the White House; he gave the South Carolina lawmaker a key speaking role during the 2020 Republican National Convention. During his presidential run, Scott shied away from harshly criticizing Trump, and the former president never turned his ire to Scott in the way he has with DeSantis, Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence.
When Scott joined the race for president last year, Trump, who is not shy about offering criticism of his political opponents, wrote on his social media platform: "Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race."
Scott has been floated as a possible running mate for Trump, but the South Carolina senator said after dropping out of the race that “being vice president has never been on my to-do list for this campaign, and it’s certainly not there now.”
Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate and, if chosen as Trump’s No. 2, might help Trump with Black voters. The former president received 12% of the Black vote in 2020, according to exit polling.
In a statement, the Democratic National Committee called Scott an "anti-abortion extremist" who backed the former president "because he knows Trump is a MAGA extremist just like him who is hellbent on ripping away freedoms from women across America."
"Scott’s endorsement of Donald Trump is only the latest example of MAGA extremism exerting complete control over the Republican Party," DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a statement. It speaks volumes about Trump’s commitment to banning abortion that he is touting the endorsement of one of the most outspoken anti-abortion extremists in the leadup to a primary in one of the most pro-choice states in the country, days before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and the same week that Scott’s campaign was praised by a radical anti-abortion activist."
Spectrum News' Ryan Chatelain and The Associated Press contributed to this report.