South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott suggested runner-up Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley should suspend her campaign.
Scott provided two points for his reasoning during a Sunday appearance on ABC News' This Week with host Martha Raddatz.
Raddatz noted a New York court had ordered Trump to pay writer E. Jean Carroll just over $83 million in his defamation suit on Friday. The ABC News host also noted Haley's "fundraising ability" and asked why she should suspend her campaign. "Number one, Donald Trump gets more earned media, probably a billion dollars already, because of who he is and what’s going on around him," Scott said of the former president, who has held a dominating lead over Republican challengers throughout the primary season.
“Number two, I think he was outspent in Iowa and New Hampshire by his opponents,” Scott continued. “One thing we know for sure, as this race turns to South Carolina, that the enthusiasm in South Carolina for the former president has never been higher.
The South Carolina senator said he had seen polls showing Trump leading Haley by 20 points.
"I would make a prediction that he wins by more than 20 percent in South Carolina," Scott suggested.
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Scott also commented on his decision to suspend his own presidential campaign last November: "the writing was clear on the wall [that] Republicans, conservatives, and a lot of independents” wanted Trump's return to the White House.
Raddatz countered Scott's claim, noting Haley secured 60% of independent voters in the New Hampshire primary.
"[What] I found to be surprising and positive is that amongst millennial voters, President Trump won 58 to 38,” Scott responded. “It was a 20-point gap among young voters. Among women voters, in New Hampshire, where liberal, Democrats and independents voted in the Republican primary, President Trump beat Nikki Haley among women.”
“When I think about the fact that African Americans, at the highest level in my lifetime, is looking at a Republican over 20 percent, Hispanics over 40 percent,” he continued. “This is a good time to be running as a Republican.”
Trump secured a landslide victory over Republican challengers in the Iowa caucus earlier this month. Following the caucus results, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his campaign and threw his support behind the former president.
Last Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed Trump.
The former president dominated Haley in the New Hampshire primary, securing over 54% of the vote.
Trump and Haley will face off in the Nevada primary on Feb. 8.
