In an effort to support the former leader’s quest to win his party’s support in order to recapture the White House, a US senator who ran for the Republican presidential nomination this year praised Trump on Friday.
At a rally in New Hampshire, where voters will cast ballots in the state’s primary on Tuesday, Senator Tim Scott joined the former president on stage.
“I came to the very warm state of New Hampshire to endorse the next president of these United States, president Donald Trump!” said Scott, who was visiting the northern state during a bitter cold snap, to a chorus of cheers.
“We need Donald Trump,” Scott said. “We need a president who unites our country.”
The South Carolina lawmaker was in the race for the nomination until November 12 when he withdrew, declining to endorse any other candidate.
In the crowded Republican field, he found it difficult to separate himself from the pack and become the first Black Republican president.
The 58-year-old, who consistently ranked sixth among Republican primary contenders, barely received two to three percent of the vote, based on the average of major opinion polls from RealClearPolitics.
His support should strengthen Trump’s prevailing efforts thus far to repel objections to the nomination from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
The endorsement is likely a bitter pill for Haley, who is from Scott’s home state and served as its governor.
CNN reported that Trump had been in discussions with Scott to secure his backing before South Carolina holds its primary election on February 24, but that the announcement was brought forward after Haley saw a bounce in support.
“He’s a fantastic man,” the scandal-plagued Trump said of Scott. “Having his endorsement means a lot.”
“We have to unify. We have to go after these crazy people that we’re dealing with,” he added, before launching into fierce critiques of Haley.
During his campaign, Scott frequently underlined his Christian faith and the conservative values he learned growing up in a poor, single-parent household.
In November of last year, he was one of five Republicans who participated in the third televised Republican debate, where contenders for the nomination argued about abortion, China, Ukraine, and the party’s future.
Scott has expressed no interest in becoming a running mate to any of the remaining candidates, saying that being vice president “has never been on my to-do list for this campaign.”
