South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott appeared to prematurely congratulate Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on her nomination to fill Marco Rubio’s vacated Senate seat before Gov. Ron DeSantis officially announced it. In a quickly-deleted tweet, Scott hailed Moody as a “proven conservative fighter” for President-elect Donald Trump and a “national leader on border security,” reported Politico. Shortly after the tweet disappeared, DeSantis made his own announcement for Moody. “Talk is cheap. We need people that have demonstrated fidelity to these principles with their actions,” said DeSantis of Moody, who has been attorney general in the Sunshine State since 2019. DeSantis said Moody “has been somebody that has acted time and time again to support the values that we all share.” He added, “Whether that’s illegal immigration, [the] opioid and fentanyl crisis, human trafficking. She has stood strong time and time again, most recently in this past year, filing lawsuits and joining lawsuits to take on the weaponization of law enforcement that targeted then-candidate Donald Trump.” Moody will run in a special election in November of 2026 to complete the remainder of Rubio’s term.
Uh NRSC chair Tim Scott just welcomed Ashley Moody to the Senate and then quickly deleted it #FLSENpic.twitter.com/8Bk7FXQoGW
— Ally Mutnick (@allymutnick) January 16, 2025