WASHINGTON — South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — longer seen as the , odds- on favorite , to become Donald Trump’s running mate this year — is slipping in the VP race and is now commonly seen , by people close to the presumptive Republican nominee as “extremely improbable” to become chosen, The Post has learned.
Scott, 58, was regarded as the party of choice for the majority of the previous year because of his fervent support for Donald Trump, 77, and the possibility that he might inspire black citizens to join the Republican party, a pattern that polls suggest is already in progress.
The volatile Trump is scheduled to make his decision sometime in the month, but Scott may still be a possibility, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
” I think it is extremely improbable he will be picked”, said one inside. You go down the list of justifications for choosing a VP, and he is n’t a standout or game-changer in any way.
” His sun has become less beautiful, for sure”, said a next properly- connected source. ” Also a top five get — but not the strongest”.
Additionally, this man warned that Scott, who has resigned from South Carolina in the Senate since 2013, “might not relate with the black area in a way that’s for putting him on the solution.”
” There are stronger possibilities, and Tim has the potential to serve in the Cabinet, so I think he’ll also play an important role.”
Scott was still in the combination, a second insider said, but I believe his biggest flaw is that he’s just not very good on TV.
A fourth told The Post that the former president” does n’t believe that the VP matters electorally” — meaning that Scott and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whose parents are Cuban, would n’t have an advantage over other contenders such as North Dakota Gov. Based solely on populations, Doug Burgum and Ohio Sen. JD Vance are.
In addition to the commonly cited” best four” of Burgum, Rubio, Scott and Vance, there are a variety of black horse challengers — including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former White House press secretary under Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Elise Stefanik ( R- NY), Rep. Byron Donalds ( R- Fla. ), and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
” Trump is looking for three stuff,” the third supply said”. He’s looking for someone to raise money, find a reliable proxy for hostile media on television, and find someone who can debate Kamala Harris without having the best of intentions.
” Tim Scott is in disagreement, but probably the least likely of the four. There is n’t any evidence or data suggesting that Tim Scott or Marco Rubio are boosting Trump’s standing among minorities.
Two further sources said they thought Scott might be a potential No. 1 in the 45th president’s mind. 2 was waning.
Another Trump advisers made the point that Trump” could go in any direction at any time” and that the challengers have now begun vying for positions, which could cause sources to pull in favor of various contenders.
A source close to Trump, who spoke favorably about Scott, told The Post that the former senator was “raving” about the lawmaker” campaigning on his representative” in closed-door meetings as just as Tuesday,” saying how wonderful of a career Tim Scott had been doing for him.”
A pro-Scott source claimed that both he and Trump speak regular and that they are scheduled to attend a Detroit protest on Saturday. This individual added that Scott has been linked to entrepreneurs Ken Griffin and Bill Ackman in new reports, which could improve his position with Trump.
Scott is renowned in Washington for having a sporadic timid tone and for often mucking it up with the Capitol hit army.
Some, but not all, of The Post’s sources mentioned his character as a potential problem in the decision-making process.
The senator just got engaged this past January after touring his household position in the 1990s as a proponent of abstinence until marriage.
Trump gained notoriety for creating extraordinary personality arcs on his long-running former NBC hit show” The Apprentice” and is expected to do the same with his most recent vice president candidate, with workers and journalists already prepared for him to encourage spills to create suspense.
Burgum, 67, is commonly believed to had risen in Trump’s assessment.
Before his 2016 election to guide the state’s fourth-less-populous state, the governor of North Dakota is one of America’s richest officeholders. He was a powerful self-made businessman.
Burgum’s perceived advantages include his new image, lack of discussion, and the fact that Trump is unlikely to steal the media’s attention.
Rubio also is seen as a strong candidate, in piece due to the large number of Florida legislators in Trump’s plan.
Skeptics point out that Democrats are likely to scuttle Rubio and Trump’s story as potential competitors in the 2016 presidential campaign, which claimed Rubio could not be trusted because he had” little hands,” suggesting that Trump was lacking in different physical characteristics.
Vance, who also previously had ugly thoughts for Trump, advantages from his close ties to Donald Trump Jr. and is portrayed by supporters as having views that are in line with the ex-president’s populist message.
All horserace reporting on the subject was called “inaccurate,” according to senior Trump adviser Brian Hughes, who told The Post that simply Trump knew who he would choose.
Senator Scott is a well-known head and a staunch follower of President Trump, Hughes said. Anyone who claims to know who or when President Trump may select his Director is lying, unless the man is named Donald J. Trump, making any debate about the likelihood of the Senator or any other conceivable alternative misleading.
Regardless of who is running, Scott spokesman Nathan Brand stated that he believes” this election is about creating opportunity, growing the party, and saving the American dream.”
According to Brand, Scott and President Donald Trump worked together to achieve significant legislative victories, including tax cuts, HBCU funding, and Opportunity Zones. The senator has never considered adding value in terms of race, but rather in terms of actually passing good policy and reaching new voters. And he intends to continue defending the American dream through the next Trump administration and on the campaign trail.
