Sen. Tim Scott says people point out that he's single because they 'can't say I'm Black'
Sen. Tim Scott, a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, is defending his unmarried status.
It's garnered more attention over the course of the campaign, with some insinuating he's gay.
Scott insists he has a girlfriend and says the attention on his relationship status is a stand-in for other attacks.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has a theory about why people are drawing attention to the fact that he's never been married.
"It's like a different form of discrimination or bias," the 2024 GOP presidential candidate told the Washington Post. "You can't say I'm Black, because that would be terrible, so find something else that you can attack."
Scott also said other GOP contenders may be seeking to "sow seeds of doubt" about his campaign and finding a way to say "that guy isn't one of us" with the insinuations about his personal life.
But Scott, his political confidants, and his friends all insist that he's not gay. In fact, Scott insists he has a girlfriend, though the campaign declined to identify her to the Post.
"I can't imagine dragging her onto the campaign trail unless I have the intention of marrying her," Scott said in the Post interview, which he said would be the "only conversation I'm going to have about her in any form or fashion" unless he wins.
Still, the rumor mill about Scott has persisted.
"The joke has always been that he is secretly gay or something," said an unnamed GOP operative who came to the Post with a dossier of information about Scott's known personal relationships.
Even Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Conservative Union who was himself accused earlier this year of sexually assaulting a man, joked to the Post that former President Donald Trump would be picking "a gay vice president" if he selected Scott as his running mate.
And Axios recently reported that some Republican donors wanted to know more about Scott's single status before backing him as a candidate.
Scott first revealed the existence of his current girlfriend during an Axios interview in May.
"Half of America's adult population is single for the first time," Scott said at the time. "To suggest that somehow being married or not married is going to be the determining factor of whether you're a good president or not — it sounds like we're living in 1963 and not 2023."
Correction: September 12, 2023 - The headline has been updated to reflect the fact that Scott's remarks were in reference to political opponents who focus on his single status. He did not accuse those opponents of insinuating that he is gay.
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