Trump VP hopeful Tim Scott opens up about whirlwind engagement – Washington Examiner

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has at least one major life event coming up, and possibly two.

Scott, who is on former President Donald Trump‘s running mate short list, dished on his engagement to Mindy Noce in a Fox News interview accompanied by his fiancee. He will serve as a surrogate for Trump later Thursday as the former president debates President Joe Biden in Atlanta. But by the time he gets married on Aug. 3, he could be the GOP’s first black vice presidential nominee.

“I think anyone who’s chosen to be the vice president, it is such an honor,” Scott said in the Fox News interview. “This is a kid growing up in poverty right here in Charleston and having an opportunity to continue to influence this country. The one thing I feel at peace about is fulfilling the mission — the mission of helping people.”

Scott sat down for a pair of interviews with the cable news giant, one solo and one with Noce. Both can be seen below, and each was conducted at Seacoast Church near Charleston, where the pair will be married later this summer.

He is far from the only Republican vying to be Trump’s running mate, while recent reporting suggests three other surrogates are being vetted more seriously, but he addressed speculation he could be chosen as the former president prepares to announce his choice ahead of or at the Republican National Convention.

“It’s the evolution of the Southern heart that we see on display, and we Southerners get so little credit for the progress we’ve made,” Scott said about the possibility of being a candidate for vice president. “The whole notion of judging a person on the content of their character, not the color of their skin, has happened. It’s not going to happen, it’s not around the corner, it’s in the rearview mirror. We are living Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream.”

He contrasted his vision with that of Democrats, who Scott said were “aiding and abetting poverty.”

“Frankly, I wish I could have a debate about who’s made the most progress for the African-American community in the last 50 years,” he said. “It was the Republican Party that cut a single mom’s taxes by more than 70%.”

Scott grew up with a single mother himself in the Charleston area but says his story is proof of the opportunity available to Americans. While he ran for president, Scott agreed with Trump that he was a better booster than candidate.

Scott made clear he wants the vice presidential gig, adding, “I desperately want to fulfill the position the good Lord has given me, and whatever the position is that helps me get that done, on behalf of the American people, I want to do that every single day.”

Scott’s relationship with Noce was announced publicly less than a year ago, and the pair got engaged in January. Both announcements fueled further speculation about the timing of the marriage, given Scott’s interest in the running mate slot, but the couple insisted in their interview that they simply met at church, set up by friends who wanted them to go on a pickleball date.

Noce, when asked about the prospect of becoming the second lady, noted her interest in honoring military veterans. Her father was a military pilot and her brothers all attended military college.

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Both said they are fully on board for whatever happens next, whether Scott is named vice presidential nominee or not.

“Wherever Tim and I land, I think we’re going to both put our personal touches on whatever home that is,” she said.