“You’re a much better candidate for me than you were for yourself”: Donald Trump on Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).

Donald Trump gave Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) a somewhat backhanded compliment during a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday night, after someone from the audience shouted that the former president should pick Scott as his running mate.

“Look, he did well, but he wasn’t as forceful as he is because he feels, you know, he doesn’t want to talk about himself. It’s sort of interesting,” Trump said, referring to Scott’s 2024 presidential candidacy. “And then I see him on ‘Deface the Nation’ and ‘Meet the Press’ and all the stuff, and he’s just killing everybody.”

“I called him, I said, ‘You’re a much better candidate for me than you were for yourself,’” Trump continued. “He was like a different person.”

“I say that with admiration, because I’m the opposite — I’m much better for me than I would be for somebody else,” Trump added. “I would be terrible. I’d be terrible. If I was in that position, I’d get up: ‘All right. I did a great job, you should have voted for me! You made a mistake. But this guy’s OK. All right, I’m going home.’ No, I would be terrible. I’d be the opposite of Tim. But that shows great character with Tim. It really does.”