Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday during a town hall spoke highly of an audience member and said he was considering the person to be his running mate in the 2024 election.
Trump praised Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and acknowledged he was a possible vice presidential selection during the event moderated by Fox News host Laura Ingraham. Scott endorsed Trump before January’s New Hampshire presidential primary after he suspended his presidential campaign in November.
“You have to have somebody that would be a good president. A lot of people are talking about that gentleman over there,” Trump told Ingraham while pointing to Scott, drawing applause from the audience. “He’s been so great, such a great advocate. Tim Scott, he has been better for me than for himself. I watched his campaign and he doesn’t like talking about himself, he talks about Trump. I said, Tim, you are better for me than for yourself. He’s fantastic and a fantastic person.”
Scott gave the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s April 2021 address to Congress, facing racist attacks online that one major social media site allowed to trend.
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“The audience has been asked about who they think would be a good choice and various names came up,” Ingraham said. “One was, of course, Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s made a big splash, [Republican Gov.] Ron DeSantis [of Florida], who is making an appearance today in South Carolina, Tim Scott, [Republican Rep. Byron Donalds [of Florida] and a big presence for [former Democratic Rep.] Tulsi Gabbard [of Hawaii], very interesting, and [Republican Gov.] Kristi Noem [of South Dakota], as well, I should say. Are they all on your short list?”
The mentions of Gabbard and Noem both drew applause from the crowd. “They are,” Trump said.
Trump then said he was surprised at how little impact running mates had on presidential tickets before noting former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as an exception who drew fire from the media, Democrats and some Republicans.
Ingraham noted that if Trump won in 2024 he would not be eligible to run for a second term, before she and Trump mocked claims that Trump would not leave office and there wouldn’t be another election.
“You would like to get somebody to help you from the voters’ standpoint, and honestly, all of those people are good and solid,” Trump told Ingraham about the names she mentioned.
Harold Hutchison on February 20, 2024
