South Carolina Tim Scott, a former Republican presidential candidate turned energetic Donald Trump cheerleader, has called on the front-runner’s challenger Nikki Haley to suspend her campaign ahead of this weekend’s Palmetto State primary, saying he senses “desperation” around her and that she cannot win in the state she once served as governor.
In the same interview with Kayleigh McEnany on Fox News, Mr Scott made the preposterous claim that Democrats “wants an open, insecure border” whereas Republicans “know that means you have to control your back door”, despite the fact that it is GOP members that are holding up all possible spending bills on the subject in Congress.
Ms Haley, unlikely to be daunted by his comments, began a busy week of campaigning on Presidents’ Day after making headlines over the weekend by declining to say she would endorse Mr Trump but promising to pardon him if she entered the White House.
Mr Trump reacted furiously to those comments, appearing to object to Ms Haley effectively “legitimising” the criminal cases against him, contrary to his baseless insistence that they are all part of a conspiracy being orchestrated by President Joe Biden and his myriad enemies.