RYE, N.H. — Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Republican presidential candidate, suggested at a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Thursday that recent headlines about his relationship status were the result of his opponents’ planting stories.
That status garnered renewed interest last week, when Axios published an article suggesting some conservative Republican donors were concerned about him being unmarried.
Scott was asked about the report Thursday during a visit to Lago’s Ice Cream alongside New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a fellow Republican.
“People plant stories that have conversations to distract from our rise in the polls, to distract from our size of our audience,” Scott said. “What we’ve seen is that poll after poll says that the voters don’t care, but it seems like opponents do care, and so media coverage that opponents plant — it’s OK. Good news is we just keep fighting the good fight.”
Scott did not refer to a specific presidential rival in his answer.
Since he entered public office in 1995 as a member of the Charleston, South Carolina, City Council, Scott has never publicly dated, a fact that has distinguished him from many of his colleagues and political opponents.
James Buchanan was the only president who never married, according to the White House Historical Association, while Grover Cleveland was a bachelor as a candidate and got married after he was elected president.
In an interview with NBC News after his campaign launch in May, Scott did suggest he was actively dating.
“There’s always time for a great relationship with a wonderful woman, and I thank God that that is happening,” he said in May.
