Sen. Tim Scott’s Upcoming Iowa Visit Could Hint at 2024 Presidential Ambitions

In this image from Senate Television video, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) delivers the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s speech to a joint session of Congress in Washington, on April 28, 2021. Senate Television via AP

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is slated to appear at a county GOP Lincoln Day event on Feb. 22 in West Des Moines, Iowa, adding to speculation about his potential efforts to seek the presidency in 2024.

Fox News reported that Scott will be at the Polk County Republican Party’s Lincoln Dinner.

The Epoch Times reached out to Scott’s office for comment.

Gloria Mazza, the chair of the Republican Party of Polk County, told The Epoch Times in a Jan. 30 email that the county’s Lincoln Day event hosted Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in 2021.

Rumors of a Rick Scott 2024 presidential run were quelled when the multimillionaire Florida lawmaker announced his intentions to seek reelection to the Senate.

Fundraising Opportunity

“This is a fundraising opportunity for our county party and sometimes they just land in our laps, which we welcome being the largest county party in the state,” Mazza said.

In early 2022, both Scotts visited New Hampshire, another key early state in the primary and caucus process, for a cocktail party fundraiser.

Republican senators including John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Iowa’s own Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) have voiced enthusiasm about a Tim Scott presidential run.

For now, though, it seems the Republican base still favors President Donald Trump, who declared his candidacy in November 2022.

A January survey of GOP primary and caucus voters by Emerson College Polling showed 55 percent support for Trump, 29 percent support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and 6 percent support for Trump’s former Vice President, Mike Pence.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, former Trump CIA chief Mike Pompeo, and an unspecified “Someone Else” made up the remainder of responses.

Assess Emerging Field

Older versions of that poll showed more support for a Trump 2024 candidacy in 2022 and 2021.

If Tim Scott were elected president, he would be the first-ever black Republican to reach the office.

He would also be our first unmarried commander-in-chief since James Buchanan, who was elected in 1856 and served one term.

Polk County Republican Party chair Mazza noted that Iowans will have ample opportunity to assess the emerging field of 2024 presidential candidates in the run-up to early 2024, when the Republican presidential caucus will take place.

Both major parties have traditionally staged their first caucuses of the presidential election cycle in Iowa.

While Republicans are sticking with that system, Democrats under President Biden have made radical changes that would see South Carolina hold the nation’s first primary.

Other names in the election mix

Who else may vie for the Oval Office in 2024?

Aside from DeSantis, a favorite of media prognosticators, and the various other figures mentioned in the Emerson survey, there’s Trump’s former White House national security adviser John Bolton.

Bolton, a neoconservative veteran of the second Bush administration, has not been shy about voicing his distaste for his former boss.

Just a few days ago, Bolton told CBS News that a Trump presidential run in 2024 was “poison” for his party.

The media has helped fuel rumors that Fox News host Tucker Carlson will join the 2024 Republican field.

In July 2022, Carlson told Semafor’s Ben Smith that he had “zero ambition” when it comes to politics.

“I don’t want power, I’ve never wanted power,” Carlson added.

Potential Democrat Contenders

On the Democratic side, meanwhile, the Biden classified documents controversy has intensified concerns over whether he should run in 2024.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttiegieg, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker are among the nationally known figures who have attracted attention as potential contenders.

Buttigieg led Biden in a January Granite State Poll of likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire.

Politico’s Jonathan Martin reported in November 2022 that Newsom does not want to contest the 2024 presidential nomination with Biden, even informing the White House of that intention.

That same month, a newly reelected Pritzker told reporters he was “focused on serving as governor for the next four years.”