SPARTANBURG, SC (AP) – Sen. Tim Scott is deploying the support of more than 140 current and former elected officials from his home state of South Carolina, aiming to make a show of strength in the South’s first presidential primary . been
The support comes as Scott and other presidential candidates look to continue their campaigns as much of the political world weighs the indictment of Republican front-runner Donald Trump on dozens of federal charges.
The list of supporters, shared with The Associated Press ahead of an official announcement Monday, includes state Sen. Shane Massey, the current Republican leader of the South Carolina Senate, who called Scott “the real conservative leader we need in the White House right now.”
Daniel Rickenmann, elected in 2021 as the first Republican-aligned mayor of the capital of Columbia, South Carolina, in decades, praised the career of Scott, who he said had been dedicated to “focusing on the people of home and supporting local government to solve real problems.”
Scott also lists the official endorsement of former U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, whose 1st District seat Scott won twice before being appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2011 by then-Gov. Nikki Haley, now among Scott’s rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
The list also includes 28 other current state lawmakers, including Rep. Bruce Bannister, chairman of the state’s powerful House Ways and Means Committee, as well as former lawmakers, including House Speaker Bobby Harrell, 16 mayors of cities and towns throughout the state and dozens. of officials at county level.
Scott said he was “honoured to be supported by former colleagues and friends”. He previously received support from several Senate colleagues, including John Thune and Mike Rounds, both of South Dakota. Thune spoke at Scott’s launch event last month in North Charleston.
Scott’s endorsements in South Carolina come as Republicans seek to navigate the campaign amid Trump’s unprecedented indictment on dozens of federal charges related to his handling of classified documents. Scheduled to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, Trump spent the weekend calling the case against him “ridiculous” and “baseless” during appearances at GOP conventions in Georgia and North Carolina.
Scott, who is campaigning later this week in Iowa, is among the 2024 Republican hopefuls who have joined Trump in criticizing the case against him. Along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Scott has denounced the “weaponizing” of the Justice Department in making its allegations against the former president. Haley called for an end to the “politics of vendetta,” and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has pledged to pardon Trump if elected.
Ramaswamy said the federal case was part of “an affront to all citizens” and called it “hypocritical for the DOJ to selectively prosecute Trump but not” President Joe Biden over his own classified documents case.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the federal indictment marked “a sad day for our country” and “reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign.”
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