Exclusive: No. 2 Senate Republican leader John Thune endorses Trump in 2024 Republican primary
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Minority Whip John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican leader, is endorsing former President Donald Trump for re-election. It’s a key win for Trump from the establishment wing of the Republican Party. The South Dakota Republican is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s top deputy in the Senate GOP. “The primary results in South Carolina make clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in this year’s pivotal presidential election. The choice before the American people is crystal clear: It’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden,” Thune told Fox News Digital. TRUMP MOVES CLOSER TO LOCKING UP GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION WITH 20-POINT WIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA “I support former President Trump’s campaign to win the presidency, and I intend to do everything I can to see that he has a Republican majority in the Senate working with him to restore American strength at home and abroad,” he continued. “Together we must put an end to the disastrous Biden-Schumer agenda. Our country cannot endure another four years of Bidenomics, continued lawlessness at our southern border, and American weakness on the global stage.” Thune and Trump spoke by phone on Saturday night after Trump’s commanding victory in the South Carolina Republican primary, a source familiar with the call told Fox News Digital. It wasn’t clear before now whether Thune, who’s seen as one of McConnell’s potential successors to lead the Senate Republican Conference, would endorse either of the two major candidates for the 2024 GOP nomination. ONLY ON FOX: WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT HALEY AFTER TOPPING HER IN HER HOME STATE Like McConnell, he suggested he would support whoever Republican voters chose as their presidential nominee, but Thune has for the most part avoided mentioning the former president. He previously endorsed South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign and was present at Scott’s launch event. Scott dropped out in November and endorsed Trump last month. The Sunday announcement puts added pressure on McConnell, who has brushed off scrutiny on whether his frosty relationship with Trump would stop him from endorsing the ex-president in the Republican primary. McConnell said at a press conference earlier this month when asked about the race, “I’ve stayed essentially out of it and when I change my mind about that, I’ll let you know.” Both Thune and McConnell were targeted by Trump for criticizing his handling of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the 2020 election. Thune won a landslide re-election victory for a fourth Senate term in 2022 despite Trump calling for a primary challenger against him. His endorsement of the former president comes after Trump beat former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state primary on Saturday night. The ex-president won roughly 60% of the vote compared to 40% for Haley.
New book claims Melania engaged in ‘power struggle’ with Ivanka in WH: ‘irritated’
A new book detailing the evolving role of the first lady in the 21st century argues that former first lady Melania Trump engaged in a “power struggle” with her stepdaughter Ivanka Trump when Donald Trump was president. “For her four years in the White House, Melania would wage an internal power struggle with her stepdaughter. Melania called her ‘the princess’ so frequently that a coterie of East Wing aides had adopted the nickname,” the book “American Woman” writes. “American Woman,” authored by New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers, will officially hit store shelves Tuesday and examines how the role of first lady has evolved this century, focusing much of the book on first lady Jill Biden. Fox News Digital reviewed the book before its release, and found it details an alleged struggle for power between former President Trump’s wife and daughter. The book argues that Melania Trump was “going to do her own thing” upon Trump being sworn in as president, including staying in New York City so their son Barron Trump could finish the school year. Trump lauded the first lady shortly after becoming president, while noting she would be bolstered by his daughter, Ivanka Trump. MELANIA ‘GOING TO BE OUT A LOT’ ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL, TRUMP SAYS “I think she’s going to be a fantastic first lady. She’s going to be a tremendous representative of women and of the people,” the new president said. “And helping her and working with her will be Ivanka, who is a fabulous person and a fabulous, fabulous woman,” he said in 2017. At the start of the Trump administration, “American Woman” argues, Melania Trump monitored social media and news outlets for personal mentions, while allegedly souring at the plan to elevate Ivanka Trump’s role in the White House. BIDEN TAUNTS TRUMP BY INVOKING FORMER FIRST LADY’S ‘BE BEST’ ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN “She was aware that her husband had suggested that his eldest daughter would be helping to share the responsibilities of being First Lady, and this was not a development that pleased her. At the time, Ivanka was staking out office space in the West Wing but was eyeing the potential of a revamped East Wing that could be geared to serving the entire First Family, not just the First Lady, according to people familiar with her plans,” the text of the book reads. Ivanka Trump was hired as an unpaid adviser to her father in March 2017, joining her husband Jared Kushner as official government employees. MELANIA FULLY BEHIND TRUMP’S 2024 CAMPAIGN, SAYS IT WOULD BE A ‘PRIVILEGE’ TO SERVE AS FIRST LADY AGAIN “The suggestion irritated Melania, who put a stop to the talk of a family-led wing. A month later, Ivanka announced that she would become an official government employee, working as an unpaid adviser for her father,” according to the book. As Melania navigated her new role, she allegedly also renegotiated a prenuptial agreement, including stipulations that her son Barron Trump was guaranteed “equal footing with Donald’s other children,” according to the book, citing Washington Post journalist Mary Jordan. Jordan’s book on Melania Trump was previously panned by the first lady’s office as belonging in “the fiction genre.” MELANIA TRUMP ROLLS OUT ‘AMERICAN CHRISTMAS’ ORNAMENTS, NFTS TO HELP FUND SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FOSTER CHILDREN In June 2018, Melania Trump came under fire in the media after wearing a jacket with the words “I really don’t care, do U?” ahead of visiting a youth migrant detention center with her husband. The jacket’s message reportedly had no underlying message, the White House said when photos first circulated of the first lady. The book, however, claims the jacket wasn’t a message directed at the media, but instead to Ivanka Trump. “The two were locked in a quiet competition for press coverage and, to that end, Melania did not think that it was appropriate for Trump’s children to be enmeshed in White House operations,” an excerpt reads. MELANIA TRUMP TO SPEAK TO NEW AMERICAN CITIZENS ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY OF ‘GUARDING OUR FREEDOM’ Overall, the book argues, Melania Trump was “frustrated and angry” with how she was portrayed by the media, and that nothing she did “would be enough to escape scrutiny,” including decorating the White House for Christmas. “By 2020, when the pandemic was setting in, Melania had taken to wearing elegant robes at all hours. In the evenings, she would occasionally visit her husband in his bedroom, perching on his bed and listening as he placed calls to and received calls from advisers. She busied herself with assembling photo albums of her aesthetic contributions to the White House,” the book states. Fox News Digital reached out to the Office of Donald J. Trump regarding the book and its claims, but did not immediately receive a reply. Trump, who notched another primary win this weekend when he swept the South Carolina GOP primary, recently said the former first lady would ramp up her campaign trail appearances ahead of the 2024 presidential election. “It’s funny, she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot. Not because she likes doing it, but she likes the results,” he said last Tuesday to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “She wants to see this country really succeed. She loves the country.”
Watching the watchdogs: Biden, US media and Arab-American political power
Arab- and Muslim-Americans and some 60 percent of all Americans have wanted for months for US President Joe Biden to pressure Israel into accepting an immediate ceasefire in the war on Gaza. The White House has all but ignored them. So Arab- and Muslim-Americans decided to flex their political muscle by using their electoral power in critical swing states in this year’s presidential election. In December, community leaders from nine potential swing states met in Dearborn, Michigan under the slogan “Abandon Biden, ceasefire now”. They vowed not to vote for Biden in the November presidential polls unless he changes his policies that enable Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza, rob Palestinians of decent life conditions, and largely ignore the views of significant minority communities in the United States. The campaign quickly attracted support in Michigan and other states with large Arab-American communities, along with criticism from Biden supporters who feared that the campaign to pressure the president might inadvertently guarantee a Donald Trump victory. Arab- and Muslim-Americans intensified their campaign in February, when demeaning articles in the mainstream press helped mobilised even more community members. On February 2, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an op-ed by Steven Stalinsky, titled Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital, which alleged “Imams and politicians in the Michigan city side with Hamas against Israel and Iran against the US.” The article tarred the entire community as dangerous extremists. On the same day, a New York Times op-ed by Thomas Friedman metaphorically compared Middle Eastern countries and political actors to animals in the jungle, including trap-door spiders and wasps. Whatever these – and other offensive articles and cartoons – aimed to achieve, they inadvertently propelled Arab-American engagements in high-stakes electoral politics. The city of Dearborn, Michigan, singled out by name and smeared in the WSJ article, became ground zero for this effort. The Michigan community reached out to mobilise nationally with other marginalised communities that the White House has often ignored – notably African-Americans, Hispanics, progressive Jews, labourers, women, university students, and others. They joined hands because they share concerns about foreign policy as well as the White House’s domestic priorities and its opportunistic and self-serving citizen engagement. The activists demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the implementation of existing legal restrictions on the unconditional aid and arms the US has provided Israel for decades. They are fed up with being ignored by a White House that takes their votes for granted, as well as by the Democratic Party they have helped boost through voter-registration drives since the mid-1980s. They are also incredibly frustrated with mainstream, often racist, media that misrepresent, demean, and ignore them. I asked Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud this week why his town joins hands with other disgruntled American communities to impact national politics and foreign policy at the highest level. He said: “This is all about trust and respect between officials and citizens. We must end the discrepancy we see today between elected officials and the values of citizens. There are no possible justifications or qualifiers for genocide or killing babies and civilians on such a large scale. None at all.” In our conversation and his public statements, Hammoud spelled out how US foreign policy and media coverage directly impact ordinary citizens. “It’s personal for us, as some of our families have experienced Israeli occupation or wars, or volunteered in refugee camps,” he said. “When foreign policy decisions directly impact the wellbeing of Dearborn residents, it is irresponsible to walk away from difficult policy conversations that can lead to saving the lives of innocent men, women, and children.” Hammoud was clear on his community’s demands: “We want action, not words”. But so far, Arab- and Muslim-Americans have received mostly words. Worried about the “Abandon Biden” campaign, the president’s campaign staff approached local leaders to meet, but they refused. They insisted they wanted to talk with policymakers at the White House. And it worked. Biden quickly sent to Michigan several of his staffers, including Jon Finer, principal deputy national security adviser; Tom Perez, senior adviser to the president and director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; and Samantha Power, head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). But after the meetings, nothing changed yet again. The Arab- and Muslim-American community received more nice words, and no action. So as Biden maintained the flow of arms and money for Israel’s assault on Gaza, community leaders, including US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, decided to raise the stakes. They launched the “Listen to Michigan” campaign that asks “people of conscience” to list themselves as “uncommitted” in the presidential primary on Tuesday, February 27. This signals to Biden and the party that they must listen to citizens’ concerns, and earn their votes, or else risk losing in state and presidential elections. The community leaders and activists dare to do this because they enjoy unprecedented leverage from the size and distribution of Arab- and Muslim-American voters in swing states like Michigan, where elections are tightly contested. Michigan is home to more than 300,000 Arab-Americans. Trump won the state by less than 11,000 votes in 2016, and Biden in 2020 by 154,000 votes, including many cast by Arab-Americans. Biden also won by 10,500 votes in Arizona, which is home to 60,000 Arab Americans, and by 11,800 votes in Georgia, where 57,000 Arab-Americans live. Veteran Arab-American activist James Zogby, co-founder and president of the Arab American Institute, told me that this burst of action builds on 40 years of community capacity-building across the country. It captures Arab-Americans’ mindset that “is moving from paralysis and despair in the early 1980s to today’s feeling that we can control our destiny.” The other partners in the informal coalition to change US policy add clout. Michigan’s large United Autoworkers Union has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, recalling how it had also opposed apartheid in South Africa. The African Methodist Episcopal Church has also demanded an immediate ceasefire and called the attacks on Gaza “mass genocide”. Progressive groups, such as US Senator Bernie Sanders’s
Palestinian woman buried under rubble calls for help after Israeli attack
NewsFeed A Palestinian woman used her phone to call a rescue team from under the rubble of her collapsed home following an Israeli attack on Gaza City. Published On 25 Feb 202425 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
With lives shattered by war, Ukrainian teens build new dreams
Two years ago, Ukrainian teenagers were busy with friendships, falling in love and trying out new things, just like their peers in other countries. But plans and dreams were quickly shattered by the Russian invasion that began on February 24, 2022, forcing many young people to flee their homes, friends and schools and build a new existence in a strange country. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian teens ended up in neighbouring Poland, some with their families and some without, among the millions of refugees who fled to other European countries. Nearly six million Ukrainians remain displaced outside the country, a World Bank study shows. Two years on, many of them have settled into new lives. But some struggle with anxiety, anger and despair, as well as a sense of limbo as they contemplate the possibility of returning to Ukraine one day if the conflict ends. Transitioning to adulthood can be a tough ride, and the danger and disruption caused by the war have made it harder. Marharyta Chykalova, who turns 17 in March, left her hometown of Kherson in southern Ukraine with her mother in April 2022 after sleeping in a basement for weeks – and fearing for her life – as Russian troops occupied the city. They fled to Moldova, then to Romania before settling in the Polish city of Gdynia. Marharyta started learning Polish, trying hard to fit in at her new Polish school, but the first six months were tough. She says she kept in contact with some of her closest friends at home, but felt lonely nevertheless. To help cope with depression, the soft-spoken student joined theatre classes that allowed her to express her emotions on stage and helped her make new friends. “Some people say that home is not a place where you live, but home is a place where you feel good,” she said. “I feel good on the stage, with people close to me. This is my home.” Around 165,000 Ukrainian teenagers between 13 and 18 years of age are registered as refugees in Poland, according to January data from the Office for Foreigners. Some gather at Blue Trainers, a community space in a shopping mall in Gdansk where they play board games, billiards and table tennis. Most of all, they connect with their Ukrainian and Polish peers. Signing up for sports was a particularly popular way of coping with the shock of the war among youngsters. Andrii Nonka, 15, from Kharkiv, arrived in Poland on his birthday, March 6, 2022, with his mother. His father stayed in Ukraine. Occasionally, he feels a strong desire to go back home to see his friends and father. Joining a boxing club helped him find new friends and now he looks at Poland increasingly as an opportunity to find a good job, possibly in IT. “I think because of the war, I have matured quicker,” Andrii said. “For now, it is hard to tell where my home is. For now, my home is in Ukraine.” Dariia Vynohradova, 17, also from Kharkiv, left her parents behind and says she no longer wants to return. “I don’t want to go back because Kharkiv is destroyed so much, there is nothing to go back to,” she said. “I will go back to visit my parents sometimes, but I want to stay here.” Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine’s Umerov says delays in Western arms deliveries costing lives
Ukraine’s defence minister says delayed shipments of arms lead to losses of troops and territory. Half of promised Western military support to Ukraine fails to arrive on time, complicating the task of military planners and ultimately costing the lives of soldiers in Russia’s war, the Ukrainian defence minister has said. Speaking at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in Kyiv on Sunday, Rustan Umerov stressed that each delayed aid shipment meant Ukrainian troop losses, and underscored Russia’s superior military might. It has been two years since Russia invaded Ukraine and while commemorations to mark the second anniversary brought expressions of continued support, new bilateral security agreements and new aid commitments from Ukraine’s Western allies, Umerov said that they still needed to deliver on their commitments if Kyiv was to have any chance of holding out against Moscow. “We look to the enemy: Their economy is almost $2 trillion, they use up to 15 percent official and nonofficial budget [funds] for the war, which constitutes over $100bn annually. So basically whenever a commitment doesn’t come on time, we lose people, we lose territory,” he said. In recent weeks, fighting has intensified on parts of the front line. On Sunday, Russian shelling and rocket strikes continued to pummel Ukraine’s south and east, as local Ukrainian officials reported that at least two civilians were killed and eight others were wounded in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces. Moscow and Kyiv also continued to trade nightly drone attacks, with Ukraine’s air defences shooting down 16 of 18 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched overnight by Moscow and a Russian drone on Sunday morning struck an unspecified facility in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, the regional military administration reported without giving details. Russian troops also appeared to be pressing on west of Avdiivka, the strategic city whose capture this month handed Moscow a significant victory. Umerov and the Ukrainian military’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskii, toured front-line combat posts earlier Sunday amid a worsening ammunition shortage and dogged Russian attacks in the east. They heard from front-line troops and “thoroughly analysed” the battlefield situation on their visit, Syrskii said in a Telegram update. He did not specify where exactly he and Umerov went but said that “the situation is difficult” for Ukrainian troops and “needs constant control” along many stretches of the front. Europe has admitted it will fall far short of a plan to deliver more than one million artillery shells to Ukraine by March, instead hoping to complete the shipments by the end of the year. Umerov highlighted that such delays put Ukraine at a further disadvantage “in the mathematics of war” against Russia, which the West has said is increasingly building a war economy. Kyiv has also been weakened by the blocking of a vital $60bn US aid package amid political wrangling in the US Congress. US President Joe Biden said the hold-ups directly contributed to Ukraine being forced to withdraw from Avdiivka. On Sunday, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said he was “deeply convinced that the US will not abandon Ukraine in terms of financial, military and armed support”. Meanwhile at the forum in Kyiv, besides highlighting issues in military deliveries, Umerov insisted that Ukrainian forces were doing “everything that’s possible, and also what’s impossible, to secure a breakthrough” this year. The defence minister said that a “strong” military strategy is already in place for the coming months, but did not disclose details. Adblock test (Why?)
Newsom says Biden should debate Trump, ‘beat’ him like in 2020
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on President Biden to debate former President and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, arguing that the president could “beat” Trump like he did in 2020. “Biden beat Trump in the prior debates. I look forward to it,” the California Democrat said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. The comment comes as Biden has so far refused to commit to debate Trump, who currently has a commanding lead in the Republican Presidential Primary. Trump, on the other hand, has called on the president to debate him “immediately,” arguing such an event would be “for the good of the country.” ‘THE VIEW’ HOSTS CLASH OVER WHETHER BIDEN SHOULD DEBATE TRUMP, WORRY PRESIDENT ‘CAN LOSE’ Trump’s desire to debate Biden comes despite his refusal to appear for debates against GOP primary foes, something Newsom argued Sunday was “weakness masquerading as strength.” “This is … pure projection on a guy who refused to debate in his own primary,” Newsom said. But not everyone believes Biden has much to gain by debating Trump ahead of this year’s election, with the topic recently becoming the subject of a heated debate between the co-hosts of “The View” earlier this week. BIDEN IS LYING LOW AHEAD OF SUPER BOWL AS COMMENTATORS WORRY THAT HE IS SEEN AS ‘NOT IN CONTROL’ OF THE NATION Co-host Sara Haines had particularly strong feelings on the topic, warning that only Trump would benefit from the two candidates squaring off. “Biden can lose, he can lose in a debate,” Hanies said. “Trump will not. The people supporting Trump will support him whether he’s there or not. Biden makes one mistake, and the people who are undecided are out.” Newsom’s comments also come as speculation about his desire to jump into the race have continued to swirl, something the California governor said Sunday was off the table. “I am here celebrating the extraordinary accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration,” Newsom said, calling the continued speculation about his potential run “idle chat” and a “side show.” “It’s not even an interesting conversation,” Newsom continued. “I think it’s a damning conversation, frankly, the other side wants us to have… they love ginning this stuff up.”
Biden tells staffers ‘key’ to lasting marriage is ‘good sex’: book
President Biden’s key to a lasting and happy marriage is “good sex,” according to a new book detailing Jill Biden’s role as first lady. “Joe may have tamped down on his public bedroom declarations winning the presidency, but he has joked to aides that ‘good sex’ is the key to a lasting and happy marriage, much to his wife’s chagrin,” Katie Rogers writes in an upcoming book obtained by Fox News Digital. The book describes that ahead of the 2008 presidential election, in 2006, “Joe still seemed more interested in staying home with Jill than in running for the presidency.” “I’d rather be at home making love to my wife while my children are asleep,” Biden said in public remarks that year when asked about a potential 2008 presidential run. JILL BIDEN LASHED OUT AT HUSBAND, AIDES FOR ALLOWING 2022 PRESS CONFERENCE TO GO ON TOO LONG: REPORT “The remark might’ve surprised some in the audience, but it drew little more than a shrug from a spokesman, who explained that the senator was ‘frankly totally in love with his wife,’” the book continued. “American Woman,” authored by New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers, will be released Tuesday and documents how the role of first lady has evolved in the 21st century, focusing on Jill Biden’s tenure in the White House. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, JILL BIDEN ATTEND NEPHEW’S WEDDING TO REALITY TV STAR Excerpts of the book, including the president’s comments regarding “good sex” as the key to a happy marriage, have since been mocked and panned by critics on social media. “Joe Biden, a man who can barely walk up a set of stairs, says the key to his marriage is “’good sex,’” X account Not The Bee tweeted. BIDEN BUBBLE: HOW FIRST LADY JILL AND STAFF ‘PROTECT’ PRESIDENT FROM WHITE HOUSE PRESS “Joe Biden who can’t climb the stairs without falling, says the secret to his marriage is ‘good sex.’ Really,” Outkick founder Clay Travis tweeted. “I don’t even know what to say about this post. Why?” Bo Snerdley, of “The Rush Limbaugh Show” fame, tweeted. The president and first lady met in 1975 after Joe Biden’s first wife Neilia Hunter Biden died in a car accident in 1972, alongside the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, Naomi. The couple’s other two children, Beau and Hunter, survived the car crash. Joe Biden was sworn in as a Delaware senator just two weeks after the tragedy. JILL BIDEN’S EX-HUSBAND ACCUSES HER OF AFFAIR WITH JOE BIDEN IN 1970S “According to both Bidens, Jill first met the boys in early 1975, months after she began dating Joe. He had lost his first wife, Neilia, and his infant daughter, Naomi, in a car crash in December 1972, just weeks after winning his first Senate race,” the book details. Jill Biden, however, was hesitant about the relationship, the book argues, as she was freshly divorced at 23 after a “counterfeit love” with her first husband. “The idea of marrying Joe, a thirty-two-year-old widower still knitting his family back together, was daunting. Which is why it took Joe five marriage proposals before she finally said yes,” the book continues. Beau Biden also reportedly encouraged the relationship, saying, “Dad, we think we should marry Jill,” when he was 7 years old. Joe and Jill Biden married in 1977, and Beau and Hunter began calling the future first lady “Mom,” while referring to their deceased mother as “Mommy.” “When Jill married Joe in June 1977, the boys came with them on a mini honeymoon, taking their own room in a hotel suite,” the book continues. Joe and Jill Biden will mark their 47th wedding anniversary in June.
Haryana INLD president Nafe Singh Rathee shot dead in Jhajjar
Haryana INLD chief and former MLA Nafe Singh Rathee was shot dead at Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar district on Sunday.
Trump running mate screen tests: potential contenders audition for vice presidential nod
From the campaign trail in South Carolina to the Conservative Political Action Conference, some of the leading potential contenders to serve as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate are turning up the volume in their praise of the former president. “Let South Carolina send a message to all America. The Republican primary is over and Donald Trump is our nominee,” Sen. Tim Scott stressed as he stood next to Trump at a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on the eve of his home state’s GOP presidential primary. Scott, the uplifting conservative champion who ended his own White House run in November and endorsed Trump last month, joined the former president on the campaign trail in South Carolina repeatedly this month, including on Saturday night at Trump’s primary night celebration. “Is South Carolina Trump country?” Scott asked the crowd to loud cheers, at the event in Columbia. TRUMP MOVES CLOSER TO LOCKING UP GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION WITH 20-POINT WIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, is one of over a half dozen potential contenders with aspirations of joining Trump on the national ticket who’s been talking up the former president. Among them is another former rival from the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race – Vivek Ramaswamy. ONLY ON FOX: WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT HALEY AFTER TOPPING HER IN HER HOME STATE The multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur, author, and political commentator, speaking Saturday at CPAC, urged any aligned group “that supported me during that campaign, I’m publicly calling on them to use their resources to support Donald J. Trump in his reelection effort. And I want every other Republican candidate who ran for president to do the same thing.” Ramaswamy also made a handful of stops in South Carolina, to campaign both with and on behalf of Trump, in recent weeks. Rep. Byron Donald of Florida, a longtime Trump supporter, joined the former president on Friday at the Black Conservative Foundation Gala in Columbia, S.C. “We have a true opportunity which doesn’t come along very often in politics to elect real leadership back to the White House. And that leadership is in the form of the 45th president, soon to be the 47th president. Donald J. Trump,” Donalds told the crowd. A day earlier, Donalds espoused a similar message at CPAC, the granddaddy of conservative confabs that has turned into a Trump-fest since the former president first won the White House in 2016. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, another longtime Trump supporter and surrogate, in an apparent dig at former 2024 contenders Scott and Ramaswamy, emphasized to cheers at CPAC on Friday that “I’ve always supported the fact that our next president needs to be President Trump.” “I was one of the first people to endorse Donald Trump to be president,” Noem added. “Last year, when everyone was asking me if I was going to consider running, I said no. Why would you run for president when you know you can’t win?” Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the fourth ranking House Republican and another top Trump loyalist, told the crowd at CPAC that “I’m proud to be the first member of Congress to endorse President Trump for reelection.” And former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who later turned independent and who has become a favorite among conservatives, also praised Trump at CPAC. “I’ve met a lot of strong, tough people in my life, I can’t think of a single one who could not only withstand all that is coming at Donald Trump without crumbling, but someone who would actually choose to keep fighting against the entire Washington establishment,” she highlighted. Noem and Ramaswamy topped the CPAC Trump running mate straw poll this weekend – tied at 15%. Trump on Saturday took another big step towards locking up the GOP nomination by defeating his last remaining major rival – former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – by 20 points in her home state presidential primary. At a Fox News town hall in South Carolina last week, he indicated that at least a half a dozen contenders — including three former rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — are on his short list for running mate. During the program, which ran on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” Trump was asked about Scott, Ramaswamy, Noem, Donalds, Gabbard, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “Are they all on your short list?” host Laura Ingraham asked the former president. “They are,” Trump answered. “Honestly, all of those people are good. They’re all good, they’re all solid.” Scott received a warm welcome from the large crowd of mostly Trump supporters when he arrived at the Greenville, South Carolina, convention center where the town hall was held. “A lot of people are talking about that gentleman right over there,” Trump said as he pointed to Scott, who was sitting in the front row of the audience. Asked about Trump’s praise, Scott told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the former president “certainly was very generous and kind with his words. But more important than who his running mate is is making sure that he’s our next president.” Asked about potentially serving as Trump’s running mate, Ramaswamy also demurred. “Donald Trump has got to win this election. That’s my sole focus and making sure he wins by a decisive victory,” he told reporters last week during a stop in South Carolina. “And I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure that his presidency is as successful as it possibly can be.” While the potential running mate contenders are playing coy, seasoned Republican strategist David Kochel told Fox News the appearances on the campaign trail “of course, are screen tests. I think CPAC is going to play that role as well this weekend – obviously big with the MAGA folks.” “Trump likes to talk about people that he hires coming out of central casting, so to use the word audition is apropos,” added Kochel,