Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said Sunday he supports voting to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, and then said shortly thereafter that he similarly expected to certify former President Trump’s victory in the 2024 election.
Asked in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” whether he would uphold the results of the vote, Scott said, “Obviously, I will support this decision and the upcoming decision to certify that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States.”
“November 5th, the showdown day, is fast approaching, with early voting beginning in September in states like North Carolina,” he continued.
“We will do everything in our power to ensure that the outcome of this election is clear and meaningful, and that the American people have four years of low unemployment, low inflation, high temperatures, and a president who is respected and sometimes feared on the world stage. That president is Donald Trump.”
Scott, who is rumored to be a leading contender to be President Trump’s running mate, has not publicly said he will accept the results of the 2024 election, regardless of who wins. Instead, he has remained evasive on the question, saying he believes the next president will be President Trump.
After losing the 2020 election and exhausting all legal avenues to challenge the election, Trump set his sights on Jan. 6, when states’ electoral votes are officially counted. Lawmakers are allowed to file objections but rarely do so in practice.
In 2021, eight Republican senators voted to support the objections and two-thirds of Republicans in the House voted to support the objections in one or both states where the vote was held. Sen. Scott was not one of those senators.
Some Republican lawmakers have expressed concern about a repeat of what happened on January 6th, given candidates’ reluctance to publicly say they will accept the election results.
“What happened in 2020 is something most people never thought possible – challenging the results of an election, questioning the legitimacy of a president and even trying to block certification,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said of the ongoing unrest following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
She said with Jan. 6 still weighing on the nation, Republicans are being asked whether to accept the results of the November election.
“This is not an out-of-the-blue question,” she said. “It’s something that’s important for people to know.”
“I want to be in a position to accept the results of a fair and legitimate election,” she added. “What I don’t like is the suggestion months before the election that something rigged may have been going on.”
