Tim Scott could be Trump’s VP as he ‘doesn’t talk about himself ’

DONALD TRUMP has said he is considering Tim Scott, the South Carolina senator, as a running mate because he “doesn’t like talking about himself ”.

The former president added that Mr Scott, who has campaigned on his behalf after dropping out of the Republican primaries, had been “much better for me than he was for himself ”.

Asked by host Laura Ingraham at a Fox News town hall event on Tuesday about his prospective vice president, he gestured to the audience where the South Carolina senator was sitting.

“A lot of people are talking about that gentleman right over there,” Mr Trump said, as Mr Scott grinned and laughed.

“He’s been such a great advocate. I have to say – this is in a very positive way – Tim Scott, he has been much better for me than he was for himself. I watched this campaign and he doesn’t like talking about himself, but boy, does he talk about Trump?”

Mr Trump brought up the senator unprompted at another point in the interview as he claimed that a $355 million (£281 million) fine imposed on him by a New York court in a fraud case was “the most egregious punishment anyone’s ever seen”. He then added: “Tim Scott knows that. He sees it.” He said he was also considering Florida governor Ron Desantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida representative Byron Donalds, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem and former Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard as potential running mates.

“The one thing that always surprises me is that the VP choice has absolutely no impact,” he added. “It’s whoever the president is, it just seems.”

Mr Trump has spent months stoking speculation about potential running mates. He has yet to clinch the Republican nomination for president, but polls show him well ahead of Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, before her home state votes on Saturday.

Mr Scott, who campaigned on “Christian conservative values”, suspended his presidential run in November before a single vote was cast.