Sen. Tim Scott endorses Trump in New Hampshire amid full-court press against Haley

CNN —

Former GOP presidential candidate and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott endorsed Donald Trump on Friday in New Hampshire.

The endorsement is a blow of sorts to his fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley, who appointed him to his Senate seat in 2012, and another sign of Trump’s commanding presence on top of the party.

“We need a president who will close our southern border today. We need Donald Trump,” Scott said while appearing on stage with the former president at a campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire.

“We need a president who will unite our country. We need Donald Trump,” he continued. “We need a president who will protect your Social Security and my mama’s Social Security. We need Donald Trump.”

While introducing Scott to the stage, Trump said the senator gave him his endorsement two days ago. The decision to wait to publicly roll it out emphasizes how significant the Trump campaign views his support, and its desire to play up his endorsement with as much fanfare as possible in the final days before the New Hampshire primary.

CNN previously reported that Trump had been in talks with Scott behind the scenes about winning his endorsement, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the talks.

Trump’s inner circle had originally hoped that Scott would endorse before the South Carolina primary, sources familiar with internal discussion told CNN. The timeline was accelerated, however, as Haley saw a spike in the polls in New Hampshire.

When asked about Scott’s plans during a visit to a New Hampshire diner on Friday, Haley replied, “We’ll wait and see if it happens.” She then ignored other questions on her way out.

Later Friday, she said in a statement, “Interesting that Trump’s lining up with all