Scott says he’s a better surrogate for Trump than candidate

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) became the second contender for former President Donald Trump’s running mate to make his case to FOX & Friends, telling the network on Thursday that he “desperately” wants whatever job can help him succeed in his mission from God to Americans.

“Anyone who's chosen to be the vice president, it is such an honor,” Scott told FOX & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt alongside his fiancée, Mindy Noce. “This is a kid growing up in poverty right here in Charleston having an opportunity to continue to influence this country.”

Scott, who is on Trump’s shortlist for vice president but does not appear to be among the top three reported contenders , said Trump was “right” to call him a better surrogate for the former president than he was a candidate for the Republican nomination.

“I desperately want to fulfill the mission the good lord has given me,” Scott said, “and whatever the position is that helps me get that done, on behalf of the American people, I want to do that every single day.”

Scott was less keen to explicitly address the race for Trump’s running mate than Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who appeared for his own FOX & Friends interview Wednesday. The sit-downs are part of a three-part series that also includes North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who will talk with another co-host on Monday.

In recent weeks, the South Carolina senator has sought to make his relationship with voters of color and wealthy donors a key part of his vice presidential appeal. A Scott-aligned PAC is spending $14.3 million to target Black voters in battleground states, while Scott last week held a Juneteenth summit featuring a range of high-profile billionaires and has consistently campaigned for Trump since dropping out of the Republican primary.

In the FOX interview, Scott previewed how he could help Trump appeal to Black voters as the vice presidential nominee, invoking his own background and urging the former president to discuss the successes of his 2017 tax cuts on the debate stage.

“Donald Trump has done more for progress from a racial perspective economically than any president in my lifetime,” Scott said, repeating a claim that the tax cuts lowered a single mom’s taxes by 70 percent and alleging that the Democrats are responsible for poverty.

Scott also responded to his past criticism of Trump’s response to the Charlottesville, Va., rally, which he once said compromised Trump’s moral authority. In the days following the clashes with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux Klansmen, which left one person dead, Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides.”

After his criticism, Scott noted that Trump invited him to the White House , which sparked the crafting of a provision in the same 2017 tax law to create “opportunity zones” for investments in low-income areas .

While he said he doesn’t know whether Trump has decided on his running mate, Scott said the prospect of being the first Black Republican on a presidential ticket was “exciting, no matter the outcome” as a representation of his view that the country has achieved racial progress, particularly in the South.

The interview also represented one of Scott’s first public appearances alongside Noce , an interior designer with whom he became engaged in January. Scott and Noce have planned an early August wedding.

As second lady, Noce indicated that her platform could center on “service,” citing her father’s background as a Navy pilot and her brothers’ attendance at military college.

“Navy wives don't get the credit they deserve,” Noce said. “It's truly amazing.”

Trump continues to focus on Vance, Burgum, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as his search narrows. But he is still asking for opinions about Scott and has allowed his campaign to fuel rumors about who he will pick and when The New York Times reported Thursday . Scott will attend Thursday’s debate as a guest of Trump’s, according to The Washington Examiner .