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WOW! Trump’s reaction to Tim Scott candidacy is not what you’d expect

WOW! Trump’s reaction to Tim Scott candidacy is not what you’d expect

Great Scott! Trump's reaction to Tim Scott candidacy is not what you'd expect

It is more than a little surprising that former President Donald Trump would have anything nice to say about someone trying to beat him. But after Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination today, Trump praised Scott as a significantly better candidate than the rival that the disgraced ex-president really fears.

Trump says that Scott is a “big step up” from Gov. Ron DeSantis, proving once again that Trump still fears the Governor polling a distant second in the race for the nomination.

Trump took to his Truth Social account to pump up Scott, currently polling at 1% or less according to a recent CBS Newspoll.

“Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race. It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. I got Opportunity Zones done with Tim, a big deal that has been highly successful. Good luck Tim!,” Trump posted.

There are an increasing number of GOP politicians jumping into the race which is good news for Donald Trump and exceedingly bad news for both Sen. Scott and Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan floated an explanation in The Messenger as to why more candidates are getting into the race.

Hogan says that many GOP pols are announcing their candidacies because they believe that Ron DeSantis will plummet in the polls — something that has already happened — leaving an opening for one of the many other candidates to rise and become a strong alternative to Trump.

This is good news for Donald Trump in that it sets up a familiar dynamic — one identical to 2016.

The twice-impeached former president could “win” early states by getting just 20-30% of the vote because the many other candidates split what remains.

It is also bad news for Tim Scott because the more people who join the race to “take that shot” makes it that much harder to distinguish his candidacy from the others.

And yet, clearly, Trump still fears DeSantis the most, and one can safely presume that there is a lot of hatred directed at the “disloyal governor,” too.

It is also safe to presume that if Scott gained momentum and rose to third or even second in the race, the ex-president would not be praising Scott as a big step up from DeSantis.

Scott did pick up a key endorsement over the weekend when John Thune, the powerful No. 2 in the GOP Senate, announced he would support Scott

Scott is apparently very popular within the Senate GOP caucus and has a record of reaching across party lines, with Thune stating:

“He’s really well thought of and respected. I think he’d be a really interesting candidate for president in a field that … could be fairly open.”

A field that could be fairly open?

Wow, Thune packed a lot into that statement. It implies that he expects Trump and DeSantis to plummet.

Any shakeup in the race would have significant consequences for the Democrats, who have long assumed that Trump would be the nominee.

I can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com and @JasonMiciak

Jason Miciak
Jason Miciak is an associate editor and opinion writer for Occupy Democrats. He's a Canadian-American who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He is a trained attorney, but for the last five years, he's devoted his time to writing political news and analysis. He enjoys life on the Gulf Coast as a single dad to a 15-year-old daughter. Hobbies include flower pots, cooking, and doing what his daughter tells him they're doing. Sign up to get all of my posts by email right here:

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