Voters have more to worry about than former President Donald Trump's legal matters, including a New York jury's ruling last week to pay columnist E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her after she accused him of having sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store's dressing room three decades ago, Sen. Tim Scott said Sunday.
"The one thing I think the electorate is thinking about most often is. How in the world will the next president impact my quality of life?" the South Carolina Republican, who announced in recent weeks he is endorsing Trump, said on ABC News' "This Week."
Americans are also thinking about how the country will regain its standing and that "they were better off under Trump," he added.
Trump has vowed he would appeal last week's jury ruling for the multimillion-dollar damages payment and continues to deny Carroll's claims of abuse.
Scott, who endorsed Trump earlier this months after he ended his own 2024 presidential campaign, further said the jury decision does not cause him to question his support of Trump's campaign.
"Myself and all the voters that support Donald Trump support a return to normalcy as it relates to what affects their kitchen table," he said, adding that the "perception that the legal system is being weaponized against Donald Trump is actually increasing his poll numbers."
Trump is also facing charges in four separate criminal cases and has pleaded not guilty in all of them.
Meanwhile, even though Scott endorses Trump, he has said he does not believe his claims that the 2020 election was stolen, even if he does think there was "cheating."
But he said he is not concerned that he does not believe what Trump and many other of his supporters do.
"The American people are more concerned about tomorrow than they are yesterday. And because of that, the race that we're seeing coming to light today is [President] Joe Biden's four years versus Donald Trump's four years," Scott said. "We don't need to litigate what happened in 2020. What I'm focusing on is what's going to happen in 2024 and beyond."
Scott, whose Trump endorsement has been seen as a slap to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's campaign, considering she appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012, further said Sunday he believes she should end her campaign.
"My theory is a simple one," he said. "When I dropped out of the race in November, it was because the writing was clear on the wall then. It is now more clear that what Republicans, conservatives, and a lot of independents want today is four more years of Donald Trump."
Scott also slammed Haley for her "provocative" language on Trump.
"But this is not about simply my opinion of one candidate," he said. "I also think that talking about someone's age is inappropriate when, especially, they are competent, qualified, and ready to go to be the next president of the United States."
He also said the races should be focused now on the general election, given Trump's lead.
"This race is over from a primary perspective," the senator said. "We should turn our attention to Joe Biden."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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