Tim Scott on potential Trump pardon: ‘I’m not going to deal with the hypotheticals’

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on Sunday dodged a question about whether he would pardon former President Trump if the South Carolina senator was elected president in 2024 and the former president was convicted of charges involving the mishandling of classified documents.

“I’m not going to deal with the hypotheticals, but I will say that every American is innocent until proven guilty,” Scott told Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.”

Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges earlier this month over the mishandling of classified documents and obstruction of justice in keeping those documents from the government. The question of pardoning Trump has been one fielded by a handful of GOP candidates in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, many of whom have danced around the question.

Scott said that if elected president, he would “clean out” the Justice Department, a notion also reflected by former Vice President Mike Pence who is also running against Trump in the primary.

“We have to clean out the political appointments in the Department of Justice to restore competence and integrity in the DOJ today, we want to know that in our justice system, Lady Justice wears a blindfold and all Americans will be treated fairly by Lady Justice,” Scott said.

“But today, this DOJ continues to hunt Republicans while they protect Democrats,” he added.

Bream also pointed out that Scott is currently trailing in the polls for the 2024 GOP presidential primary, to which Scott said his numbers “continue to climb” where he is campaigning.

“People are responding incredibly positive to the message of open opportunity,” he told Bream. “As long as we talk about it from a conservative perspective. I’m the most conservative person in the race of president.”

“Well, fighting is good, but winning is better,” he added. “We’ve lost seven out of the last eight presidential elections as it relates to the popular vote, three in a row. What we have to do as a party and what we need as a nation is someone who stands on American values with the power of persuasion.”