'Very excited' top GOP senators laying the groundwork for alternative 2024 candidate as Trump's star fades

According to a report from Politico's Marianne Levine, top Republicans in the Senate -- including a few in leadership positions -- aren't being shy about boosting the possibility of someone new being their 2024 presidential candidate as Donald Trump reels from criminal investigations, his company being on the receiving end of felony convictions and blame for the GOP's midterm election flop.

In interviews with Politico, it appears that Republican lawmakers are coalescing around Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) who has managed to stay on the good side of the former president -- for now -- while also remaining popular with his colleagues.

With political observers speculating Scott would be a popular choice as Trump's running mate, should he win the 2024 nomination, more and more GOP lawmakers are envisioning the South Carolina lawmaker as the person who should be at the top of the ticket with one stating it "would be good for Republicans."

As the Politico report states, "Joni Ernst is 'very excited' about a potential Tim Scott presidential run. John Cornyn would 'advise him to go for it.' And John Barrasso said it 'doesn’t get any better than Tim Scott.' Even Sen. Lindsey Graham, who spent much of Donald Trump’s presidency sticking to his side, said he’s intrigued by the possibility of a Scott presidential bid in 2024 and wants to see 'what Tim does' before he makes any endorsements.

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The report notes that Scott has been very careful about talking about his presidential ambitions while at the same time flying around the country raising money for other Republicans and gaining allies.

"Scott’s not personally chatty about the prospect of a 2024 presidential run, declining to talk and directing questions to his staff. But his Republican colleagues are buzzing about his massive reelection victory this year, rising national profile, substantial fundraising hauls and cross-country travels for other candidates. And they’re happy to talk him up," Politico's Levine wrote.

According to Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), Trump travails have opened the door to a multitude of Republicans jumping into the 2024 race.

“Everybody’s probably assessing it, trying to determine how much impact some of that has on [Trump’s] viability. But I don’t think there’s any question that it’s probably at least caused some people to consider, or reconsider, or perhaps embolden some, so we’ll see,” he admitted.

Speaking of Scott's chances, he added, "He’s obviously helped a lot of people around the country in the last year, raised a lot of money and built a lot of relationships that can be very useful if he does."

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) also expressed his belief Scott could be the nominee.

"Tim is one of the more … endearing and interesting personalities in the Republican conference, and one of the most talented. I think he thinks a lot about it. I mean, he just looks like a person who is making all the right moves to be a candidate,” he stated.

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