Now that President-elect Donald Trump has announced he will appoint South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations, Lt. Gov. Henry D. McMaster is in line to succeed her.
In January of this year, McMaster, 69, made national news by becoming the highest-elected official in the nation (at the time) to endorse Trump.
“Donald Trump tells the truth and he speaks in words everyone can understand,” McMaster told Newsmax on Jan. 27, shortly after he introduced Trump to an overflow rally in Lexington County.
In what had to be one of the most unique comparisons made to a political candidate — even Donald Trump — the Palmetto State’s second highest official likened Trump to “the Beatles, whom I saw in their next-to-the-last U.S. concert in Seattle in 1966."
"People young and old were at the ropes to see Trump," he recalled, "Asking for autographs on hats and posters and shouting ‘Donald, we love you.’ And he signed about as many [autographs] as he could. About the only thing different from the Beatles’ concert was I didn’t see women crying at the [Trump] rally.”
A solid conservative, McMaster is a former state attorney general who launched a suit against Obamacare that was soon joined by his fellow attorneys general in more than 20 states. Beaten for the GOP nomination for governor in 2010 by Haley, he came back to win the state’s second-highest office in 2014.
"Henry McMaster's whole life has been about public service,” former State GOP Chairman Van Hipp told Newsmax. “I believe his leadership style will be more akin to late [Republican] Govs. Jim Edwards and Carroll Campbell. He's definitely in the driver's seat should he aspire to seek a full term of his own."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
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