This man could secure Trump’s re-election

The man who could save Donald Trump’s next presidency often starts his performances with a joke. Like in early May, when Tim Scott addressed Republican voters at a New Hampshire citizen consultation. “This may surprise some of you,” Scott said with a laugh and paused. “I am black.” He always has a smile on his side. Because 57-year-old Tim Scott has been a senator for the Republicans in Washington for ten years and he is the only black person.

On Monday, Tim Scott finally announced officially: just like Barack Obama once did for the Democrats, he wants to be the first black American president to enter the White House for the Republicans in 2024.

In fact, one could pay little attention to his ambitious project. In polls of potential Republican voters, South Carolina’s Tim Scott only gets a measly single-digit percentage point. It is considered impossible that he can win the internal party primaries. Donald Trump is hardly challenged at the top. Only Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is announcing his candidacy this week, is seen as a promising opponent of Trump.

Hope for Donald Trump

But it is possible that Tim Scott of all people will be seen in the White House at the end – not as president, but as Donald Trump’s vice president. At least that’s the calculus of the Trump camp. As Trump’s black running mate, Tim Scott could jeopardize an important campaign issue for the Democrats. Trump and his Make America Great Again movement couldn’t be racist with a black running mate — that would be a killer argument in any debate about ethnic minority discrimination.

On the surface, it looks like Tim Scott is running against Donald Trump in the primary to prevent his re-presidency. But it is striking how clearly, unlike other candidates, he is reluctant to criticize Trump. And it is striking how friendly Donald Trump is to Scott.

Just before his candidate speech, Trump even wished him luck. He wrote on his social network “Truth Social”: “Good luck to Senator Tim Scott as he enters the race for the Republican presidential primary.” Unlike his direct competitor Ron DeSantis, who is “ineligible”, Scott’s candidacy is a big step. He has already worked very successfully with him. Days earlier, Trump had circulated a statement from Scott that he would support Trump’s 2024 candidacy.

Trump and Scott – so far it looks like mutual appreciation. Not becoming a threat to Trump could be Scott’s ticket to the vice presidency. He is considered an arch-conservative politician who is as outspoken against abortions as Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, who has now been impeached.

The hope from the Trump campaign’s point of view might be: On the one hand, Scott as a conservative candidate will later secure the votes of the evangelicals, who are now flirting with Ron DeSantis. On the other hand, as a black candidate, Scott could score points against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris among minorities, the majority of whom have so far voted for the Democrats.

In his official announcement on Monday in North Carolina, Tim Scott made no secret of his strategy. He brought his mother onto the campaign stage, along with a mutual white friend, and shouted, “For those wondering if America is a racist country, look at the people who are gathering here.” Because “unconditional love” is what connects hearts. “We are not defined by the color of our skin. We are defined by the essence of our character, and if someone tells you otherwise, they are lying,” Scott said.

He then linked the subject of racism directly to himself. “I am living proof that America is the land of opportunity. Not a land of oppression,” Scott said, speaking of his father. He still witnessed slavery, but then saw his son elected to the U.S. Congress Scott wraps such stories in loud lines like “From Cotton to Congress,” which translates as “From the cotton fields to the Federal Parliament.” “From victim to victory” is one of his phrases.

Tim Scott could pose a threat to the Democrats, precisely where they consider minority votes valid. This is exactly where the senator wants to attack. In recent years, the number of Republican voters has grown, especially among black young men. Even Latinos are by no means guaranteed to vote Democratic. On the contrary, in Florida, for example, they made an important contribution to the success of the conservative Ron DeSantis.

Criticism from former companion

Criticism of Tim Scott’s candidacy has come not only from Democrats. In any case, they see him as little more than a fig leaf for a reactionary Republican policy. It’s an allegation that ex-football player Herschel Walker, who failed as a state senate candidate, also heard in Georgia. He, too, was courted and supported by the Trump campaign.

An old friend of Tim Scott spoke to t-online about his candidacy. Contemporary terror expert Michael S. Smith claims to have met Scott when he first ran for a seat in the House of Representatives. He organized campaign donations at the time and later turned down an offer to take responsibility for Scott’s personal safety. “The threats from white supremacists in South Carolina were pretty serious at the time,” says Smith. “Ironically, in recent years he has become a de facto promoter of this ilk.”

After years of regular contact, Michael Smith has broken up with Tim Scott. “After a few years, I realized that Tim was just a token African-American Republican who would help the real powerhouses in Congress with nothing but their tedious fundraising job,” he says. He expressed his sincere disappointment to Scott that he had never used his enormous influence in the media to really make a difference and show leadership.

“He can’t give a single example of real legislative achievement,” says Smith. “He’s actually running for vice president, which is what he’s been working towards since he was first elected to the House of Representatives.” The only path to a presidency for Tim Scott would be to be elected vice president at Trump’s request. Should Trump finally be caught legally for illegal activity, Scott could end up in the White House eventually.

An early US coin

Scott’s success with Republican voters, especially conservative minorities, is perhaps best illustrated by a story he also tells at nearly every appearance. Because Scott once worked for the fast food chain “Chick-fil-a”, which is famous in the US and also decidedly Christian-conservative. Scott thanks the long-dead restaurant manager back then for the opportunities he opened up for him when he could have fallen into poverty and full of rage in his belly as a teenager, with divorced parents.

There are Republicans who say, ‘Tim Scott is Chick-fil-a. Tim Scott is America». This restaurant manager clearly had a strong influence on Tim Scott’s conservative Christian values. Scott’s publicist once said, “He taught him biblical principles and conservative values, and over the course of a few years he changed his mindset.” Tims Scott’s mission in life today is to positively impact people “with the message of hope and opportunity.” Tim Scott’s campaign slogan sounds much more positive and Christian than Trump’s: “Faith in America”.

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