Tim Scott Confronted About Donald Trump VP Rumors

Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, was confronted on Sunday morning about discussions he may have had this weekend with Donald Trump about the possibility of being the former president's running mate in this year's election.

Kristen Welker, host of NBC News' Meet the Press, pressed Scott several times about Saturday's donor event at Mar-a-Lago, which was expected to attract more than 400 donors and featured several of Trump's rumored vice-presidential picks.

"Did you discuss with the former president the possibility of being his running mate?" Welker asked the senator on Sunday.

Scott, a Trump ally, then responded, "No ma'am. What we talked this weekend about how bad the economy is for single parents like the one that raised me. We had a lot of conversations around the room about the importance of eliminating 'Bidenomics' and getting inflation back under 2 percent...We had no conversations about the VP pick to be honest with you, to be clear."

As Scott continued to talk about economic issues, Welker pressed the senator, twice, asking, "Just to be very clear, it didn't come up at all? Do you think you're on the short list?"

"I hope that the president will choose a person [as vice president] who helps the country unite and heal," Scott smiled as he replied. "I certainly expect to have a decision from the president in the next 60 days or so. He didn't bring it up and I certainly didn't bring it up."

The senator added: "I'm just excited that in this nation, a poor kid from South Carolina can rise to the level of being a United States senator. It just tells me that all things are possible for kids growing up in poverty today. Kids growing up today, listen to this show and know, all things are possible in your future."

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign Sunday morning for comment. This story will be updated with any provided statements.

According to a copy of this weekend's Republican National Committee (RNC) spring finance retreat program viewed by Reuters, Scott was joined by several other rumored vice-presidential picks.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and J.D. Vance of Ohio, and Representative Elise Stefanik of New York were all expected to attend the private event.

Noem, however, has seen her chances of becoming Trump's running mate fall dramatically after reports of her shooting her "untrainable" dog emerged, according to an online prediction market.

Most of this weekend's event was held at the Four Seasons hotel in Palm Beach while Trump hosted a fundraising lunch at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, was also scheduled to address the guests at Mar-a-Lago.

The donor event was also intended to help the Trump campaign shore up its finances.

The presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee is facing multiple legal challenges, including his high-profile hush money case involving adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election by reimbursing his lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen for payments to silence Daniels over an alleged 2006 affair she had with Trump. The former president has denied the affair ever took place.

With the trial in the case set to last around six weeks, the former president is racking up significant legal fees. He is also facing three other indictments and related trials that could take place this year, and has maintained his innocence in those cases as well.

The former president has been paying his lawyers using the Save America political action committee (PAC), which has spent more than $62 million on legal fees since January 2023, Bloomberg noted.

Trump's campaign and the RNC said on Saturday in a statement that they raised more than $76 million in April, with over half of the contributions coming from small donors. Meanwhile, the former president's campaign and the RNC said early last month that it raised $65.6 million for March.