Sen. Tim Scott will endorse Donald Trump at a rally in New Hampshire Friday night, tightening the former president’s grip on the 2024 Republican nomination.
After Monday’s landslide win in Iowa, the Trump campaign is intent on killing off his remaining opponents as quickly as possible and turning his attention to a general election match-up with President Joe Biden.
Now Trump has won the battle to secure the endorsement of Scott, who dropped out of the race in November.
The campaigns of Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis had both tried to woo the South Carolina senator.
A source familiar with the details confirmed that Scott would appear with Trump in New Hampshire.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks in front of President Donald Trump during a campaign rally during the 2020 campaign
‘He’s going to fly to Palm Beach and then head to New Hampshire with the former president, at which point this evening he will appear with former president to endorse,’ said the source.
‘The clincher was he’s been talking to Trump for some time and they’ve got a very good relationship.
‘We have to get focused on beating Joe Biden.’
The endorsement was first reported by the New York Times.
It is a bitter blow for Haley, whose political base is also South Carolina and who as governor appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012.
She needs a huge boost if she is to pull off an upset in New Hampshire’s first-in-the nation primary on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for her campaign played down the twist.
‘Interesting that Trump’s lining up with all the Washington insiders when he claimed he wanted to drain the swamp,’ Olivia Perez-Cubas told the Associated Press.
‘But the fellas are gonna do what the fellas are gonna do.’
Both Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis courted Scott for his endorsement. They are struggling to slow the Trump juggernaut and Haley in particularly needs a strong result on Monday
It is understood that she and DeSantis, who is largely skipping the north-east state’s first-in-the-nation primary, both spoke with Scott to try to win his endorsement.
The decision will intensify speculation that Trump could pick Scott as running mate. The senator has a powerful fundraising machine, and could help the former inroad make further inroads among Biden’s Black support.
Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, ran on a message of optimism and unity. That made him stand out in a field that painted a dark picture of America under Biden.
His personal story of growing up poor gave him the sort of broad appeal that marked him out as a contender.
But he never really gained traction in the polls despite a huge financial war chest, and struggled to impose himself on the first three Republican debates.
President Donald Trump introduced Vivek Ramaswamy to an ecstatic crowd in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Tuesday evening at the end of whirlwind 24 hours
Trump is due to hold a rally in Concord on Friday evening.
On Tuesday, he was joined on stage by tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out less than 24 hours earlier after a disappointing fourth place finish in Iowa.
Now he will repeat the feat with his latest backer.
Democrats portrayed the endorsement as another example of the spread of extreme MAGA ideology through the Republican party.
‘Tim Scott centered his own campaign around banning abortion nationwide, and now he’s endorsing Donald Trump because he knows Trump is a MAGA extremist just like him who is hellbent on ripping away freedoms from women across America,’ said Democratic National Committee rapid response director Alex Floyd.
‘Scott’s endorsement of Donald Trump is only the latest example of MAGA extremism exerting complete control over the Republican Party.’