Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is set to officially endorse Donald Trump for president in the 2024 election. The endorsement itself isn't much of a surprise, but it has kicked off new rumors that Scott could be in line as a pick for Trump's running mate in the general election.
But much like the question of who the song "You're So Vain" referred to, this is still only a rumor for the time being, and unlike Carly Simon's famous track, a presidential candidate can only have one running mate. (The song is referring to three different guys, people!)
Last week we were talking about Vivek Ramaswamy as a contender, and we've heard about Kari Lake, who is currently running for senator, as another option. Tucker Carlson, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.), and even Nikki Haley (a move nobody would actually like) are still showing up as grist for the Trump Running Mate/Vice President Rumor Mill, despite some having publicly said they won't take the job.
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Trump himself said back in July that Scott was "a talented guy" and that he could see him as part of a second Trump Administration, but added, "You have other very talented people." Of course, he didn't specify what sort of position Scott could fill, which adds additional fuel to the speculation.
So let's consider what Tim Scott has going for him: He's black, which could potentially sway some black voters, he's a good Christian guy, which will reassure the evangelicals skeptical of Trump's morals like Pence did, and he is well-liked in South Carolina with a 78% approval rating.
The last part could very well be what wins Trump South Carolina in the primary and the general (as if he didn't need help already), but South Carolina is already red so it won't be necessarily crucial to Trump winning anyway. This does not mean that Tim Scott is a bad option for Trump.
Given that once solidly blue voting blocs (black, Latino, and young voters) have been purpling due to Biden's incompetence, a few votes for a Trump-Scott ticket from these demographics in otherwise Biden-voting states could be what tips the election in Trump's favor.
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Still, the rumor of Scott as a VP pick does follow a pattern many of the other contenders follow, which is Trump choosing a woman or someone with a minority background (or both). Tie that into picking someone from a battleground state as a means of boosting his chances, and the choice boils down to Arizona's Kari Lake. New York is too blue for Elise Stefanik to carry any votes for Trump, and pretty much everyone else comes from solid-red states, which are going to vote for Trump anyway.
But until then, we are probably going to keep hearing rumors until the day Trump actually reveals who will be his running mate. Given the high chances of him being the nominee, he could pick his VP well before the party convention this July assuming Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Haley drop out before then.
What keeps the speculation going is that outside of Trump saying he knows who it will be is that we don't even have a fun hint like the person's name having the letter "E" in it.
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