Kellyanne Conway is helping Tim Scott’s bid for Trump’s Veepstakes

Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), a top candidate in the race to become Donald Trump’s running mate, has a powerful ally in that full-contact fight: Kellyanne Conway.

Immediately after withdrawing from the presidential race in November 2023, Scott went hard for his former opponent and emerged as one of his top television surrogates. The South Carolina senator has defended the former president against critics and campaigned alongside him at campaign after rally. Trump even said of Scott at a campaign event in February that “he is a much better representative for me than he is for himself.”

In recent months, that dedication has elevated Scott to the top of the veepstakes, positioning him today as a favorite pick in the quadrennial political parlor game of who gets the chance to play second fiddle.

But he got help.

The Daily Beast has learned that Scott has increasingly leaned on Conway as the VP’s shortlist has fallen. It’s not a bad strategy: Conway — who helped Trump to victory in 2016 before spending nearly four years as a top aide in the White House — still has the former president’s ear and exerts influence over him.

And according to three sources familiar with the situation, Conway is game. These sources told The Daily Beast that Scott has taken advantage of the Trump confidante’s relationship with the former president, pinning his hopes in Conway’s hands and hoping her advocacy can win him over.

Scott and Conway have made no secret of their friendship. The two were recently spotted dining together at Capital Grille in Washington, D.C., and the veteran GOP pollster will be speaking at a fundraiser next month with proceeds going to a non-profit organization that supports Scott’s political agenda.

The South Carolina senator is one of two candidates at the top of Conway’s list to become Trump’s running mate; the other is Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), according to a source familiar with Conway’s thinking. On a separate level are North Dakota Governor and former presidential candidate Doug Burgum and Senator Bill Haggerty (R-TN), the source added.

But Conway’s initiative to get Scott on the Republican ticket goes beyond these public appearances. Conway has privately encouraged Trump to work with Scott, believing the two-term senator is the best option in the former president’s presence, according to multiple Trumpworld sources familiar with the situation.

However, some sources added that influence and judgment are two separate issues.

A source close to Trump told The Daily Beast that while Conway’s lobbying efforts on Scott’s behalf are authentic — as is her influence on Trump — Scott would be a flawed choice, and Conway’s influence could ultimately convince him to make a mistake to make.

“Here’s the thing about Kellyanne: people fire her for different reasons; She’s not particularly smart and doesn’t really come up with many good ideas. She is always looking for money and that is what drives her decision making,” the source said. ‘But she has thought Trump through like no other. If anyone can convince him to make a mistake – and later assign the blame to someone else – it’s Kellyanne.”

A longtime Trump adviser, who said Conway is indeed pushing hard for Scott, noted that Conway’s influence is strong enough to seem supernatural. “(Kellyanne Conway) must have a Trump voodoo doll because she always seems to put a pin in the right place and make him do whatever she wants,” this Trump vet told The Daily Beast.

“President Trump is seeking the advice of many men and women on the choice of Vice President, but he and he alone will decide,” Conway said in a statement to The Daily Beast.

The Trump campaign and a spokesman for Scott did not respond to requests for comment.

As a respected Republican pollster, Conway seems interested in Scott’s status as the only black Republican in the Senate — who, as a running mate, could potentially bridge the campaign to a demographic group that some recent surveys have shown are increasingly Trump-curious. In an op-ed for The New York Times in February, Conway suggested that Trump “choose a person of color as his running mate” and said that any list of potential running mates for Trump would include Scott, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and others.

Additionally, the fundraiser for the nonprofit that supports Scott’s political agenda is led by the South Carolina senator himself and includes a number of donors who are skeptical of Trump. Strong fundraising, especially from donors who are not necessarily fans of Trump, could boost Scott in the former president’s eyes as he tries to become his next running mate. And the fact that Conway is present is no coincidence.

A source close to Scott said Conway wants Trump to “poorly” select Scott as his running mate and that the two have become particularly close this cycle.

“Tim and Kellyanne have become close because, as she puts it, she is the de facto head of the Trump world — like Trump’s security blanket,” a source close to Scott told The Daily Beast. “People underestimate how much the president relies on her advisers, and they question her influence at their peril.”

However, Conway isn’t putting all her cards in one basket. She’s also hedging her bets with Rubio.

Conway was one of the Florida senator’s staunchest advocates and was the person who first put Rubio on Trump’s radar for the veepstakes race.

She believes either candidate can help Trump win the election and would be solid choices for a running mate, according to the source familiar with Conway’s thinking.

“She’s surfed with Trump long enough to know you don’t put all your cards on the table, and Rubio is clearly her trump card if Scott is taken off the runway,” a Florida adviser told The Daily Beast.

But ultimately it will be up to Trump to decide on a running mate, and all the positioning and auditioning may not matter if Trump has a completely different person in mind.

“Scarcity is the best strategy with Trump,” said the well-known source. “And in the case of the vice president, openly auditioning gets you noticed but not remembered. So those who audition openly may be noticed, but not remembered.