Tim Scott's Answer to Question on Accepting Election Results Met With Alarm
Senator Tim Scott speaks during the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Scott faced criticism on Sunday over his answer to a question on whether he would accept the 2024 presidential election results.
Senator Tim Scott’s response to a question about whether he would accept the results of the 2024 presidential election regardless of which party wins has raised eyebrows on social media on Sunday.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee, has repeatedly said the 2020 election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud despite those claims not being proven by substantial evidence. On Wednesday, Trump said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he believes he won Wisconsin in 2020, despite there being no evidence of this. President Joe Biden won the state by more than 20,000 votes.
Scott, a South Carolina Republican who has been floated as a potential vice presidential candidate for Trump, was pressed about Trump’s election fraud claims during an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday morning. Host Kristen Welker specifically asked if he would commit to accepting the 2024 election results, regardless of which party wins.
Notably, Scott voted to certify the 2020 presidential results and has previously said he does not believe the election was stolen.
“Will you commit to accepting the election results of 2024, bottom line?” Welker asked the senator.
“At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be President Donald Trump. I’m excited to get back to lowering inflation, lower unemployment—,” Scott said.
Welker then interjected, asking him if he will accept the results “no matter who wins.”
“That is my statement,” Scott said.
Welker pressed him for a “yes or no answer,” noting, “I don’t hear you committing to the election results.”
“This is why so many Americans believe that NBC is an extension of the Democratic Party. At the end of the day, I’ve said what I said. I know that the American people, their voices will be heard. And I believe that President Trump will be our next president. It’s that simple,” he said.
Newsweek has reached out to Scott’s office for comment via email.
The senator’s comments were met with condemnation on X, formerly Twitter.
“The fact that Tim Scott is refusing to say he’d follow the law and not try to overthrow the results of a free and fair election should scare anyone listening. This is how democracies end,” the government watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wrote.
Journalist Brian Stelter posted, “Scott’s statement is that he will only accept the results if Trump is declared the winner.”
“Look what Trump demands to be a MAGA VP candidate. Tim Scott destroys his reputation and credibility by refusing to say whether he will accept the results of the 2024 election despite KNOWING there was no evidence of fraud or corruption that changed the result of the 2020 election. MAGA is nothing but lies,” Barry Markson, a talk show host and legal analyst, wrote.
“This is directly the result of NO CONSEQUENCES for Trump & his congressional co-conspirators for January 6th. Directly,” commented writer Melissa Peltier.
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