The top Black Republican presidential candidate is speaking out about the staggering amount of attention he feels his political opponents give to his relationship status, believing it’s a form of discrimination.
Scott aired his thoughts to the Washington Post about how that status has been a target for opponents and GOP operatives in the course of his campaign.
“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 said other GOP candidates are shifting the spotlight to his relationship status because they might be trying to “sow seeds of doubt” about his campaign. A rumor mill spreading the possibility that he was “secretly gay” also made the rounds among GOP supporters and potential donors, according to Axios.
One source familiar with these sentiments told the Washington Post that New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker went through the same thing when he ran for president in 2020.
“Cory Booker went through the same thing running for president in 2020, and it seems to not have been a problem for him — but maybe that’s more normal for Democrats,” the source said.
When Booker ran for president, he was dating actress Rosario Dawson.
Scott has told both the Post and Axios that he’s in a relationship but prefers to keep the identity of his girlfriend private.
“The fact that half of America’s adult population is single for the first 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,” Scott told Axios in May. “I probably have more time, more energy, and more latitude to do the job,” he said, adding that even so, “my girlfriend wants to see me when I come home.”
A FiveThirtyEight survey shows Sen. Scott is flailing in the polls, receiving about 2 percent of national favorability compared to Donald Trump’s 53 percent. However, a recent poll conducted by The Des Moines Register and NBC News revealed that Scott was third among Iowa Republican voters at 19 percent behind Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Scott has been betting on Iowa for support since he feels his message resonates with most voters in that state, according to one CNN report.
There hasn’t been a bachelor president in the White House since Grover Cleveland in 1884, who married while he was in office. James Buchanan was the only other bachelor president, and he remained single during his one-term presidency.
