US Senator Tim Scott, who had campaigned against Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, endorsed his former rival at a rally in New Hampshire on Friday (January 19) night, dealing a blow to Trump’s top remaining primary competitor, Nikki Haley.
The move by Scott comes just four days before the pivotal Republican nominating contest in New Hampshire, in which Trump is facing off against Haley, a former South Carolina governor who first appointed Scott to the US Senate.
Only Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has largely written off New Hampshire to challenge Haley in her home state of South Carolina, remains in the three-way contest for the nomination.
Haley is trailing Trump by 14 points in New Hampshire, according to an average of polls maintained by polling analysis website 538.
Speaking before hundreds of cheering supporters in Concord, many of whom waited several hours outside in 15-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, Scott listed several reasons why he said the country needed another Trump term, arguing he would lower taxes and unite the country.
“That’s why I came to the very warm state of New Hampshire to endorse the next president of these United States, Donald Trump,” Scott shouted.
Scott, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, is the latest conservative US lawmaker to endorse Trump, who won Iowa’s caucus on Monday by a historic margin.
After Scott spoke, Trump briefly acknowledged his endorsement before bashing Haley and Democratic President Joe Biden, who he is likely to face in a general election rematch in November.
In 2012, Haley appointed then US House Representative Scott to replace retiring US Senator Jim DeMint, making him the first Black Republican in the chamber since 1979.
Now the nation’s top elected Black Republican in a party whose base is majority white, Scott’s endorsement could be critical in a contest where race has become a dominant theme.
Trump’s team and Scott’s team had been in contact before the endorsement for several weeks, according to multiple people briefed on the talks.
The senator had launched a presidential primary bid of his own earlier in the year, portraying himself as someone who could unify a politically divided country, but he dropped out in November after failing to gain traction in the polls and turning in a series of lackluster debate performances.
Trump has stepped up his attacks on Haley, adding she would not be chosen to run as his vice-president.
#trump #trump2024campaign #nikkihaley #trumplatestnews #timscott #worldnews
n18oc_world n18oc_crux
CRUX is your daily video news guide to the big events that are shaping our world. We track news, geopolitics, diplomacy and defence strategies and explain how they shape national policies. Crux makes sense of global developments, and analyses their impact on daily lives.
Follow CRUX on Telegram: https://bit.ly/3fnlLua
Follow CRUX on Instagram (@crux.india): https://bit.ly/3qSFx1K
Follow CRUX on Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Lte7iF
#GetCloserToTheNews with latest headlines on politics, sports and entertainment on news18.com https://bit.ly/2Y4QccL
Also watch:
Crux Decode: https://bit.ly/3MjzIoG
Crux+ : https://bit.ly/35mm97B
Crux Most Watched: https://bit.ly/3KhJ8iX