Tim Scott Picks Worst Person You Know to Help Him Become Trump’s VP
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott is well on his way to winning Donald Trump’s veepstakes, but the power behind that drive has come from an unexpected ally: Kellyanne Conway.
Scott has reportedly been tending to a budding friendship between himself and the former top Trump White House aide, several sources connected to Conway told The Daily Beast. The pair have been seen grabbing dinner together around Washington, D.C., and Conway is also scheduled to speak at a fundraiser in June led by the southern lawmaker. Getting closer to Conway has also meant getting closer to Trump, who reportedly still values the former counselor’s opinion very highly.
“Tim and Kellyanne have gotten close because, as she puts it, she is de facto head of Trump world—like Trump’s security blanket,” a source close to Scott told the Beast. “People underestimate how much the president relies on her counsel and they doubt her influence at their own peril.”
Trump, meanwhile, made a mysterious allusion to his VP choice on Friday, posting that the first presidential debate of the election season would take place at an HBCU “on behalf of the future Vice President of the United States.” (In reality, the Commission on Presidential Debates had picked that location in November, despite Trump’s attempts to take credit for it.)
But although he’s one of the top contenders, Scott isn’t the only candidate Conway is considering for Trump’s number two spot. Also at the top of the list is Florida Senator Marco Rubio, according to sources that spoke with the Beast. The political consultant is even weighing other options on a separate level of viability. Those candidates include North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty.
While Conway’s lobbying for Scott is seen as authentic, and her influence with the presumptive GOP presidential nominee very legitimate, sources close to her told the Beast that she’s not impervious to making a bad bet.
“Here’s the thing about Kellyanne: people dismiss her for a variety of reasons; she’s not particularly smart and doesn’t really come up with a lot of good ideas, she’s always chasing money and that’s what guides her decision making,” one source said. “But she does have Trump figured out like no one else. If anyone can convince him to make a mistake—and later assign blame to someone else—it’s Kellyanne.”
Still, Conway’s team says the buck stops with Trump.
“President Trump seeks the counsel of many men and women on the VP pick, but he and he alone will decide,” Conway said in a statement.