Tim Scott says stumping for Trump has helped free him 'from the internal struggle on how to promote myself'
Scott also notably demurred when The Wall Street Journal asked him directly about his interest in being Trump's running mate.
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- GOP Sen. Tim Scott declined to downplay interest in being Trump's running mate.
- Scott told The Wall Street Journal that their contrasting styles "ave proven to be very complementary"
- Scott's support was seen as a major snub to Nikki Haley, his one-time political ally.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott further stoked the possibility that he might become former President Donald Trump's running mate, pointing out that he finds their contrasting styles to work well together.
"Our styles are incredibly different," Scott, a South Carolina Republican, told The Wall Street Journal. "But they have proven to be very complementary."
Trump confirmed earlier this week that Scott, who has served in Congress since 2011, is on his shortlist of potential running mates. Scott has been an asset to Trump as he stumps with the former president ahead of South Carolina's GOP primary on Saturday.
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who appointed Scott to the US Senate when she was South Carolina governor, has vowed to stay in the race even as polls show she could be blowout on her home turf. Scott notably did not deny his own interest in potentially joining Trump on the ticket. Haley has vowed to oppose Trump through Super Tuesday and beyond, but at this point, it would take a gigantic change for the former president not to win the nomination for the third straight time.
"I want to do what's really best for the country," Scott told the publication.
The South Carolinian said that stumping for Trump has also allowed him to avoid the internal turmoil that comes with touting himself.
"What you're witnessing is just a guy who's been free from the internal struggle on how to promote myself without being braggadocious," Scott said.
Scott, who dropped out of the GOP presidential campaign before the Iowa Republican caucuses, said that his unsuccessful bid taught him that Americans are still open to his more soft-spoken, optimistic message they just aren't quite ready for it yet.
"What I learned on the campaign trail was people do want that," he said, "but they really want a bull in a china shop for a little while first."