Sen. John Thune is endorsing the presidential campaign of South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a source told Politico on Sunday.
The South Dakota senator, who as minority whip, is the upper chamber's No. 2 Republican, will appear at Scott's presidential launch on Monday in North Charleston, South Carolina, the source said.
South Dakota's other senator, Mike Rounds, has already announced that he is supporting Scott, becoming the first Republican senator to endorse a candidate other than former President Donald Trump, according to The Hill.
Thune has made it clear since Trump attempted to challenge the 2020 election results that the style of the former president was not appropriate for the GOP and stated in November that "it's clear that running on relitigating the 2020 election is not a winning strategy," Politico reported.
Although Trump has lashed out at Thune for such positions, the senator easily won reelection last year.
Thune has also paid tribute to Scott, saying that he has "obviously helped a lot of people around the country in the last year, raised a lot of money and built a lot of relationships that can be very useful if he does" run, according to Politico.
Thune told The Hill last month that Scott would "be a great candidate. I'm excited about it. I've been encouraging him," adding that "I think he's getting a lot of encouragement from his colleagues. He's really well thought of and respected, and I think he'd be a really interesting candidate for president."
He also quipped that "[I] told him to let me know when he wants to come to Northwest Iowa. It's right next to South Dakota, and I tell him I'll come out for him or against him – whichever helps him the most."
Scott officially declared his candidacy on Friday and filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.
In addition to Scott and Trump, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have also entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also expected to announce his bid soon.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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