Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina became the latest Republican to enter the 2024 presidential campaign on Friday by filing with federal election officials.
Fox News reported that, according to campaign filings, Scott submitted his documents to the Federal Elections Commission.
According to the report, Scott also launched a $6 million ad campaign in several crucial presidential primary states on Friday.
Scott joins former President Donald Trump, former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchison, and conservative author Larry Elder in an increasingly crowded 2024 GOP presidential field.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has not yet officially declared his candidacy, but he has taken steps this week that suggest he will do so as early as next week. Currently, he appears to be Trump’s only viable challenger for the nomination.
Is the GOP actually serious about 2024, or is it merely out to renominate the one candidate—Trump—who will never be able to win the presidency? What is Tim Scott's true thought process? Yet another piece of 2016 bullshit that will sink the GOP forever. https://t.co/0W64N9Vr8u
— TRUTH (@spectre_legit) May 19, 2023
In fact, Thursday reports cast light on who DeSantis has in mind for his running mate.
DeSantis “is determined to recruit Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders as his running mate before making a formal announcement on his 2024 presidential bid, sources close to his campaign” exclusively told RadarOnline.com.
The news source added that “insiders claim” DeSantis decided to challenge former President Donald Trump’s press secretary after she became the first female governor of a red state in 2022, succeeding Asa Hutchison, who has also entered the 2024 GOP primaries.
“He really only has one strong choice: Sarah,” the source told the outlet. “He is desperate to lock up his running mate before he makes his formal announcement. He would announce his VP candidate very soon afterward.”
“He thinks it will be a one-two punch, and Republicans will be hard-pressed to look past a united front, especially if it is him and Sarah,” the insider noted further.
The RadarOnline report follows a previous Thursday story in which DeSantis was said to have taken another action that strongly supports the notion that he is preparing to announce his presidential candidacy.
“DeSantis severed his connection to his long-standing state political committee and the tens of millions of dollars that it now controls, a step he needs to take ahead of a presidential campaign,” the outlet noted, adding: “The Republican governor is expected to jump into the race for president soon and the move to rebrand his Florida political committee — called Friends of Ron DeSantis — is the most concrete sign so far that his candidacy is imminent.”
DeSantis has stated for months that he will not decide whether to run for president until the conclusion of the Florida legislative session, which is rapidly approaching.
DeSantis filed a notice with the state on Friday indicating that he has severed ties with the political committee. The notice stated that he is no longer involved with direct or indirect fund-raising for the organization.
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
Notably, on Tuesday morning, the committee’s website was updated to reflect its new mission of being “committed to advancing the Freedom Agenda and keeping Florida free.” The website also clarified that the committee is now associated with State Senator Blaise Ingoglia, replacing DeSantis. CONTINUE READING…
