Scott says he stands by vote to certify 2020 election

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said Sunday he stands by his vote to certify the presidential election results in 2020, before quickly noting that he similarly looks forward to certifying former President Trump’s victory in the 2024 race.

“Certainly, I will stand by that decision and the next decision to certify the fact that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States,” Scott said in an interview on ABC News’s “This Week” when asked whether he stands by the vote.

“November 5, the day of reckoning, is coming. The early ballots go out in places like North Carolina starting in September,” he continued.

“We're going to focus on making sure that we use every tool in the toolkit to make sure that this election's results are clear and profound, and that the American people get four more years of low unemployment, low inflation, high enthusiasm and a president respected and sometimes feared on the global stage. That president will be Donald Trump.”

Scott, a rumored top contender to be tapped as Trump’s running mate, has not committed publicly to accepting the results of the 2024 election, regardless of who wins. Instead, Scott has hedged on the question, saying Trump will be the next president.

After Trump lost in 2020 and exhausted all legal recourse to challenge the election, the former president set his sights on Jan. 6 — the ceremonial counting of certified electors from each state. Lawmakers are permitted to raise objections but rarely do.

In 2021, eight Republican senators voted to sustain objections in one or both states that received a vote, while two-thirds of House Republicans voted to sustain the objections. Scott was not one of those senators.

Some Republicans have raised concerns about the likelihood of a Jan. 6-like event taking place again, especially as candidates have hesitated to commit publicly to accepting the results.

“What happened in 2020 was something that most people never thought was possible — not only challenge the outcome of the election, question the legitimacy of the president and then work to stop the certification,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said about lingering anxiety from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

She said Republicans are being asked whether they will accept the results of November’s election because of how Jan. 6 still weighs on the nation.

“It’s not a question that’s out of the blue,” she said. “It’s something that’s important for people to know.”

“I want us to be in a place where we accept the outcome of fair and legitimate elections,” she added. “What I don’t like is the suggestion months and months and months prior to an election that there might be something nefarious at play.”