During his time as a prosecutor and as a Congressman, Trey Gowdy was never afraid to go against the grain.
Now he seems to be doing so again with regards to the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary.
And Trey Gowdy is secretly helping lay the groundwork for a dark horse Republican not named Trump or DeSantis in 2024.
It was clear throughout former Congressman Trey Gowdy’s (R-SC) political career that he was never made to be a creature of Washington, D.C. – though he did have an eye for the spotlight.
In fact, that’s exactly what attracted many conservatives to the South Carolina attorney in the first place.
But despite the fact that Gowdy is clearly more than content to continue practicing law in his home state while hosting Sunday Night in America on Fox News, some conservatives have continued to hold out hope in would run for office again one day.
Most notably, as far back as 2016, some South Carolina conservatives have pushed rumors that Gowdy and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) would one day join forces to run for Governor and Lt. Governor in the state.
Since arriving in Washington, D.C. as part of the 2010 Tea Party wave, Gowdy and Senator Scott have been close friends, even co-authoring a book entitled Unified: How Our Unlikely Friendship Gives Us Hope For a Divided Country in 2018.
However, the more time that passes, it becomes more clear that Gowdy’s days of fighting the Washington, D.C. Swamp as an elected official are likely over.
That hasn’t stopped the former South Carolina Congressman from pushing for his friend to run for higher office though.
In 2020, Gowdy made an impassioned plea for Senator Scott to mount a White House run during an interview with the Charleston-based Post Courier.
“I think he views himself as a preacher trapped in the United States Senate, and I view him as someone whose message is desperately needed in this political environment and the one going forward,” Gowdy said of Scott at the time.
Now, Senator Scott may just be closer to running for President in 2024 than at any point in his political career, as he’s taken the first step all Presidential candidates make – launching a 501(c)(4) non-profit to test the waters.
And according to a report from POLITICO, Scott’s organization, Opportunity Matters Network, has a familiar face pulling all the strings behind the scenes – Trey Gowdy.
“The group affiliated with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R), Opportunity Matters Network, raised about $1 million in 2021, during which it gauged “different target audiences’ potential response” to policy initiatives, cultivated its email list, and developed advertising,” POLITICO reported. “Two of the group’s directors are former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and businessman Ben Navarro, who has given millions to a pro-Scott super PAC.”
In both 2016 and 2020, Gowdy supported former President Donald Trump, and even tried to terminate his role at Fox News in 2019 to help Trump’s legal team during Democrat’s Ukraine impeachment before federal lobbying rules prohibited him from joining the President’s defense.
So needless to say, this isn’t some RINO Never-Trumper putting forward a dark horse Republican candidate to stop Donald Trump.
With that said, Senator Scott would most definitely be a dark horse candidate in 2024 at this time, just as most every Republican not named Trump or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is.
And while the South Carolina Senator has undoubtedly been significantly better in his role than many other politicians in Washington, D.C., he does have some red flags, like bending to the Left on a 2016 gun control bill and trying to help the woke left-wing outrage mob bankrupt police officers in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
At the end of the day, neither Gowdy or Scott are perfect – no human will ever check every box for every voter, especially when you’re talking about conservatives who put much more value on diversity of thought and opinion than the groupthink employed by the Left.
But they do represent conservatives who have supported Donald Trump – the former President also endorsed Senator Scott in 2022 – in the past, but are now going in a different direction.
And even though Tim Scott may not find himself in the White House anytime soon, with him and Trey Gowdy working together, they could prove to have a major impact on future races, whether Scott runs for higher office or not.
Political Animal News will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
