‘Go for it all.’ Tim Scott brushes aside vice president talk in SC as he explores 2024 run
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has home field advantage.
Or at least the North Charleston Republican did on Friday when he greeted voters at a Goose Creek diner during the restaurant’s mid-morning breakfast rush.
“If you want to come home and feel appreciated, come to Alex’s Restaurant,” a family diner serving down-home, country-style food, Scott said after the retail politics stop that included a horde of local and national media.
Around plates of eggs, hash browns and pancakes, Scott greeted voters in his first public appearance in early primary state South Carolina since launching his exploratory committee for a 2024 presidential run.
“One of the reasons why I went from the ‘Faith in America’ tour (visiting early voting states) to the exploratory committee is that the message has resonated,” Scott said in a television interview outside the restaurant.
What message Scott does not seem interested in right now, or at least isn’t projecting any interest in, is being vice presidential nominee.
“If you’re going to go for it, go for it all,” Scott said.
The 2024 GOP field already includes former President Donald Trump, former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has made numerous trips to South Carolina, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who will meet with voters in the Upstate next week, also are considering runs.
Scott’s Lowcountry stop Friday wasn’t just to meet South Carolina voters, but donors too.
Courtney Wittchow, a seventh grade language arts and social studies teacher in Berkeley County, said she likes Scott and wants him to jump into the presidential race.
“I’ve been in South Carolina for a while and I’ve seen his track record,” Wittchow said. “He seems like he has South Carolina’s interests in mind. He doesn’t seem to have forgotten that he’s from here.”
Should he not win the GOP nomination, some diner patrons said they hope he at least gets on the ticket.
“If (Donald) Trump wins the primary, I think he should pick (Scott) for vice president,” said Barb McImdoe, of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, who was having breakfast with Wittchow Friday.
Scott also was greeted by Goose Greek Mayor Gregory Habib, Mayor Pro Tem Debra Green-Fletcher, Goose Creek Council member Melissa Enos, and Berkeley County Republicans Sen. Brian Adams, Rep. Sylleste Davis and former state Rep. Joe Daning.
Daning said he’s strongly considering supporting Scott in the primary.
“We have two great South Carolinians running, but I think Tim is my leader,” Daning said. “I think he sees it’s time that we need to change in the United States and we need to make that change, and I think he believes he’s the change and (I) have a good feeling he is.”
Adams, a former police lieutenant who recently sat with Pence at an event focusing on law enforcement, said he plans to support Scott if he gets in.
“I’m gonna definitely watch but I strongly believe in Tim Scott and if he jumps in, I’m personally going to be on his side and help him out however I can,” Adams said.
Davis said she remains uncommitted — at least for now — after already meeting with Hutchinson, Ramaswamy and Haley.
“I’ve talked with Nikki Haley and (I’m) always a fan of a female in the White House. I’ve known Tim Scott for a long time. I think it’s going to be a very interesting dynamic,” Davis said. “Once he announces then then you’ll know where I stand. (But) I’m keeping my powder dry.”
Not everyone at the diner, however, was impressed.
Goose Creek resident Stacie Arcomona, 52, said she likes Scott as a person, but said she has no plans to support for him for president.
She supported him when he ran for Congress, calling him a wonderful man of faith.
But, “over time, I feel like that he has let certain principles slide and I used to feel that he was a very principled person,” said Arcomona, referring to his defense of Trump and times when he did not call Trump out over certain behaviors.
Arcomona, who works for the Berkeley School District, also said she couldn’t agree with Scott’s support for school choice measures, worried any movement toward vouchers, for example, would not help all students, and allow private schools to pick and choose which students to accept.
“So those kids are gonna get left even further behind,” Arcomona said.
This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 1:56 PM with the headline "‘Go for it all.’ Tim Scott brushes aside vice president talk in SC as he explores 2024 run."
