Tim Scott, the former GOP presidential candidate, will endorse Donald Trump
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott will endorse Donald J. Trump at a rally in New Hampshire on Friday evening, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Mr. Scott traveled to Florida on Friday so he could fly with Mr. Trump to New Hampshire for the rally, the two people said. His support for Mr. Trump is likely to fuel further discussion about Mr. Scott as a potential running mate for the former president. He is the highest elected black Republican in the country.
Mr Scott only recently came to his decision. After ending his own campaign for president on November 12, he had done just that said he would not endorse “soon.” But he concluded that Trump was the best candidate to beat President Biden, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
A spokesman for Mr Scott declined to comment. A spokesperson for the former president did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the race, Mr. Trump avoided criticizing Mr. Scott, a sign that he had warmer feelings toward the senator, whom he worked with when he was president.
Mr. Trump has sought Mr. Scott's endorsement since the senator left the race last year. His support not only gives Trump a boost in New Hampshire, where the primaries take place on Tuesday, but also in South Carolina, the home state of one of Trump's biggest remaining Republican rivals, Nikki Haley. The Trump team hopes to force both Ms. Haley and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida out of the race with a decisive victory in the South Carolina primary on February 24, avoiding an expensive fight for delegates that would otherwise last until March after Super Tuesday .
The decision to support Trump could especially hurt Ms. Haley. As governor of South Carolina, she had appointed Mr. Scott to the Senate and announced him as her choice more than a decade ago, in 2012.
Mr. Scott has fielded calls from all three remaining candidates in the race: Mr. Trump, Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis. Ms. Haley had called him this week, and some mutual friends in South Carolina had also lobbied for his support on her behalf. Trump and South Carolina's other senator, Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, had been steadily lobbying him. Mr. DeSantis also called Mr. Scott last year after Mr. Scott left the race, according to the two people with knowledge of Mr. Scott's endorsement decision.
The lobbying was a sign of how coveted Mr. Scott's support would be. Although Scott struggled to gain traction in the primaries, he remains overwhelmingly popular with Republican voters.
Surveys last fall from Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican firm that has worked with the DeSantis operation, showed Mr. Scott with a 78 percent favorability rating in the industry. South Carolina and a preference score of 67 percent New Hampshire.