PALM BEACH, Florida – Sen. Tim Scott said the GOP doesn’t need a 2024 campaign message tailored to Black voters, while Sen. Marco Rubio delivered a similar message on Hispanic voters and immigration to a group of donors of the GOP gathered at a closed-door event in South Florida. Friday.
Scott, who is black, and Rubio, who is Hispanic, are both top minority leaders in the Republican Party who are on Donald Trump’s short list of possible vice presidential nominees.
They are considered leading vice presidential contenders, in part because of their potential appeal to demographics the Republican Party has struggled with. If chosen by Trump, either senator would make history next November against Vice President Kamala Harris, herself the first woman and Asian American to hold the office.
Still, Rubio and Scott downplayed the role the race would play in the presidential campaign to the group of GOP donors Friday, according to three people who attended the private event and spoke with USA Today. The senators’ remarks show how a focus on race or gender can be a delicate issue within a party that has long been older, whiter and more male and that often talks about prioritizing merit rather than identity.
The Republican National Committee hosted the spring retreat for major donors this weekend at the luxury oceanfront Four Seasons hotel in Palm Beach., which is located a few miles north of Trump’s private club and personal residence at Mar-a-Lago. The event attracted some of the party’s top elected leaders, many of whom are believed to be on Trump’s list of potential vice presidential candidates.
The weekend was an audition of sorts for the vice presidential candidates.
In addition to Scott and Rubio, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem spoke with donors and mingled with them throughout the weekend. All are considered potential Trump running mates.
Some Republicans, in or out of Trump’s orbit, say it would be a good political move for the former president to choose a woman or among men from diverse backgrounds to balance the Republican slate as it challenges President Joe Biden and Harris. .
Polls show Trump has made breakthroughs with black and Hispanic voters, and choosing a vice presidential candidate who could appeal to those demographics could help solidify those gains. A female candidate could contribute to Trump’s message to voters on abortion, an issue that has plagued his campaign.
“I’ve always been in favor of a woman as vice president because I think there are strong women,” Steve Bannon, who served as chief strategist in the Trump White House, said recently in the Donald Trump Jr.’s “Triggered” show
The GOP is wary of identity politics
But many in the party are wary…
