Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) abruptly announced Sunday night that he is suspending his 2024 presidential campaign, as polls show him failing to gain traction in a race increasingly dominated by former President Donald Trump.
“When I come back to Iowa, it won’t be as a presidential candidate,” Scott told his South Carolina friend, former Rep. Trey Gowdy, on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America.”
“I’m suspending my campaign,” Scott added. “I think the voters, who are the most incredible people on the planet, have been absolutely clear — they’ve told me, ‘Not now, Tim.'”
Scott announced that he was suspending his campaign five days after the third Republican Party primary debate in Miami, where he failed to stand out on the five-person stage, and as he faces an uphill battle to qualify for the next debate on December 6 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The most memorable moment of Scott’s debate was the first appearance of his girlfriend, Mindy Noce, after the verbal altercation ended.
Scott wasn’t the most popular South Carolinian in the race, with that distinction going to former Palmetto State Gov. Nikki Haley.
The 58-year-old has campaigned on an upbeat message about his life story belying America’s liberal style of oppression of its minority populations, but polls show little appetite for that among Republican voters.
Senator Tim Scott suspended his 2024 presidential campaign on Sunday. AFP via Getty Images
An Iowa benchmark poll published late last month showed Scott with just 7% support, nine percentage points behind Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and 36 percentage points behind Trump.
However, Scott is widely expected to continue to fight and try to at least qualify for a fourth debate. The Associated Press reported late Sunday that campaign staff had no advance knowledge that Scott would quit before he hit the FNC airwaves.
“I’m going to respect the voters, and I’m going to hang in there and keep working hard and look forward to another opportunity,” Scott told Gowdy, who appeared surprised by his former colleague’s announcement.
“I’m trying to process this information, and I’m trying to do it on live television, so excuse me,” said Gowdy, who later lamented that “maybe I should ask the voters what it says about the Republican Party” that Scott felt he couldn’t stay in race with two months remaining before the first nomination contest.
Scott received just 7% in an Iowa Republican primary poll released last month.AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
“I think sometimes the optimism in the midst of chaos is not seen through the right prism,” the senator suggested.
Notably, Scott said he would not endorse another candidate in the Republican primary, saying that “the best way for me to help is to not care.”
The senator also stated that he will not accept the invitation to take over the No. 2 on the Republican ticket, told Gowdy: “I’m running for president to be president … being vice president was never on my to-do list for this campaign, and it certainly isn’t now.”
In response to Scott’s announcement, DeSantis praised him on social media as a “strong conservative with bold ideas about how to get our country back on track.
Scott told former Rep. Trey Gowdy on Fox News that he will “respect the voters.” Reuters
“I respect his courage in running this campaign and thank him for his service to America and the US Senate.”
Scott is the sixth high-profile Republican candidate to suspend his campaign before any ballots are cast, joining former Vice President Mike Pence and four candidates: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, former Rep. Texas Will Hurd, radio talk show host Larry Elder, and businessman Perry Johnson.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
