Former President Donald Trump’s campaign released this week a new ad attacking former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina GOP primary. But instead of featuring Trump’s voice, it highlighted attacks against Haley levied by Sen. Tim Scott.
The ad, which featured Trump’s most prominent surrogate in the state outlining Haley’s proposal to increase the gas tax as governor, illustrated the fallout between two South Carolina Republicans with a rich history that started amicably but turned increasingly bitter over the course of the 2024 presidential campaign.
While Haley faces steep odds to overtake Trump for the Republican nomination, Scott’s decision to endorse Trump in January has thrust him back into the spotlight after suspending his own presidential campaign last year, and he’s recently been floated as a possible vice-presidential nominee alongside Trump. A CBS News poll of South Carolina Republicans released earlier this month showed Trump leading Haley by 35 points.
Scott on Thursday said that Haley stepping aside would be for “the good of the country.”
“The one person that stands in the way of having a conversation between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is Nikki Haley, and so getting out of the way is incredibly important, not for the party but for America’s future,” Scott said in response to a question from CNN’s Jeff Zeleny.
Scott will join Trump at his rally on Friday in Rock Hill and will then fly with the former president to the Black Conservative Federation gala in Columbia, according to a spokesman for the senator.
Scott and Haley began their relationship under favorable circumstances. Haley, who served as South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, elevated Scott from his House seat to the US Senate in 2012 to fill a…
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