Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) will join former President Donald Trump onstage at a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, a move that is sure to increase speculation over a vice presidential offer.
A source close to the senator confirmed Scott’s appearance with Trump on Wednesday evening at the Charleston Area Convention Center.
The 7 p.m. campaign rally in the Palmetto State comes 10 days before the state’s crucial GOP primary, in which Trump is likely to defeat former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in her home state.
Trump leads Haley by an average of 33.5 points in South Carolina, according to RealClearPolitics. He has the endorsement of the majority of statewide lawmakers in South Carolina and has not hesitated to tout their snubbing of Haley.
Scott, a former presidential candidate, has appeared at several Trump rallies since suspending his campaign and endorsing the former president days before the New Hampshire primary last month.
And in recent weeks, he has emerged as a strong contender to become Trump’s running mate should he win the GOP primary.
“It’s nice to be on the short list because I think Tim just wants to help the Republican Party,” a source with knowledge of the matter told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. “I know he would strongly consider it because he believes he can help change the narrative.”
Scott, who was appointed to the Senate by Haley in 2012, gave a forceful endorsement of Trump during a Concord, New Hampshire, rally last month in a major blow to Haley.
“We need a president who will unite our country. We need Donald Trump,” he told the crowd of supporters at the rally. “And that’s why I came to the very warm state of New Hampshire to endorse the next president of these United States.”
Trump directly named Scott and Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) as two possible running mates during an interview with Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures last week, though he also claimed he wouldn’t decide on a vice president for “a while.”
“I called Tim Scott this week — because a lot of people like Tim Scott — I called him, and I said: ‘You are a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself,’” Trump told host Maria Bartiromo. “I watched him over the last two weeks. As you know, he endorsed me, fully endorsed me, gave me a beautiful endorsement, and he has been really strong in terms of that, but … I don’t want anybody to take even any inference, but it’s incredible.”
Scott remains coy over the vice presidential speculation when directly asked.
“My answer would be ‘yes’ to America having four more years of Donald Trump. I don’t think any one of us should make this about me or any other person who might be the candidate for vice president,” Scott told Fox News’s Sean Hannity last week.
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Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who has sparked some level of vice presidential speculation of her own, will also join Trump onstage, the Washington Examiner has learned.
Julia Johnson contributed to this report.