By Abraham Kenmore
SCDailyGazette.com
Former President Donald Trump did not announce his running mate Thursday night as he’d teased. But he did give an on-stage shout out to one of the top contenders: U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Trump’s praise of Scott during his 90-minute televised debate with President Joe Biden came after the former president was asked about climate change. Trump instead circled back to a previous question to Biden on how the economy has impacted Black Americans, touting a program he and Scott worked on together.
“Tim Scott was incredible and did a great job. Great senator from South Carolina,” Trump said. “He came to me with the idea, and it was a great idea. It’s one of the most successful economic development acts ever in the country, Opportunity Zones. And the biggest beneficiaries are Blacks.”
Trump went on to say the program was the reason behind his growing support among Black voters — although as a whole, Black voters still favor Biden by a wide margin.
Opportunity Zones have become Scott’s signature policy victory — a bipartisan proposal signed into law in 2017 by Trump that provides tax breaks for investors who put money into designated low-income areas.
According to Scott’s page on the policy, more than half of the 31.5 million people in Opportunity Zones are not white.
“SO proud of the work President Trump and I did on Opportunity Zones. *takes bow*” Scott posted on X, formerly Twitter, during the debate.
During an interview aired on Fox News earlier Thursday, Scott said the proposal grew out of a conversation he had with Trump after criticizing the former president’s handling of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
Scott said Trump invited him in for a conversation.
“He listened,” Scott said. “And after we finished talking, he said, ‘Help me help those I have offended.’ That’s how Opportunity Zones was born.”
The effectiveness of Opportunity Zones has been a matter of debate, with some Democrats criticizing it as chiefly benefiting wealthy investors. A 2023 review by the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, found mixed-to-no impacts on employment and job creation in the zones.
Scott also ran for the Republican presidential nomination for 2024 but dropped out in November before a single vote was cast.
There was immediate speculation on Scott as a vice presidential pick, partly because his relationship with Trump never soured. Trump said good things about Scott when he jumped in, and Scott never went after Trump while he was running.
Speculation ramped up significantly after Scott’s on-stage endorsement of Trump in January. During the runup to the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, Scott appeared with Trump frequently throughout the state. And he’s continued to be a top surrogate nationally.
Scott’s been such an enthusiastic supporter, Trump has said the senator’s a better campaigner for him\ than Scott was for himself.
“He was right,” Scott told “FOX and Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt in the interview aired Thursday morning, June 27.
This year, Scott also launched a video series called America’s Starting Five, with the four other Black Republicans in Congress.
When Scott, then a congressman representing the coastal 1st District, was appointed to the U.S. Senate in December 2012, he was the only Black Republican in Congress and became the South’s first Black Republican senator since Reconstruction.
Earlier this month, he announced that the Great Opportunity PAC, a political action committee associated with Scott, will spend $14 million before Election Day with a focus on turning out Black voters for Trump.
After the debate, South Carolina’s senior senator, Lindsey Graham, said Scott would be a great choice for vice president.
“I don’t think he could have a better pick. He’s qualified to be president, which matters to me,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity, who interviewed Scott and Graham together. “What you see with Tim, is – he’s the same way when nobody’s looking.”
Abraham Kenmore is a reporter covering elections, health care and more. He joins the S.C. Daily Gazette from The Augusta Chronicle, where he reported on Georgia legislators, military and housing issues.
S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
