George Will calls on Tim Scott to drop out of White House race, back Haley

Columnist George Will thinks Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) should call it quits on his bid for the Republican nomination for president.

“This is the South Carolina senator’s choice: He can acknowledge that his energetic campaigning has failed to enkindle sufficient enthusiasm and depart as he campaigned, cheerfully,” Will wrote in The Washington Post on Tuesday. “Or he can try to become someone whom, to his credit, he has no aptitude for being — another peddler of synthetic anger, stoking today’s rage culture.”

Scott should drop out, Will said, and throw his support behind former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

“By catalyzing a coalescence around Haley, Scott could transform the nation’s political mood. As long as the Republican race pits Donald Trump against a cluster of lagging pursuers, the nominating electorate cannot ponder a binary choice,” the columnist wrote. “When, however, it is Trump against one experienced, polished, steely and unintimidated adversary, voters can internalize this exhilarating reality: There is a choice suitable for a great nation.”

Scott and Haley both trail far behind former President Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2024.

Former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) on Monday dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination and endorsed Haley.

Will’s column came with a disclosure affixed to it that said his wife, Mari Will, is an adviser to Scott’s campaign and “disagrees with this column.”

Will, a longtime columnist at the Post, is also a contributor to cable news channel NewsNation, an outlet that is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.