Tim Scott turns to Kellyanne Conway to back his push to be Trump’s VP pick

Former 2024 Republican candidate and South Carolina senator, Tim Scott, is lobbying hard among Donald Trump’s inner circle in the hopes of becoming his pick for vice president.

Scott is leaning on Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, as he pushes himself as the top choice, The Daily Beast reported on Thursday.

His private lobbying effort is coupled with a very public one — Scott has hit cable news and declared in recent days that he would do “whatever it takes” for the man who worked to overturn the 2020 election and is facing 88 felony counts.

“Tim and Kellyanne have gotten close because, as she puts it, she is de facto head of Trump world—like Trump’s security blanket,” one Scott ally told The Daily Beast. “People underestimate how much the president relies on her counsel and they doubt her influence at their own peril.”

Ms Conway retains Mr Trump’s ear, and is pushing two candidates for his running mate considerations: Scott, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the outlet reported.

She worked as an advisor during Mr Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 re-election bid and is back on board as he seeks the White House in 2024.The Independent has contacted Ms Conway for comment.

“President Trump seeks the counsel of many men and women on the VP pick, but he and he alone will decide,” Conway said in a statement to the Beast.

The two have been spotted dining in Washington DC recently. Conway openly urged the former president to “choose a person of color” to run with him in a February op-ed for The New York Times.

Marco Rubio, who ran against Trump in 2016 before bowing out, has remained a loyal supporter of the former president.

Like Scott, he has made statements minimising Trump’s responsibility for the January 6 attack on