Two of the four Republicans reportedly being vetted for the Vice President job by the presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (Florida) and Tim Scott (South Carolina) — yesterday voted against the Right to Contraception Act.
Note: 51 Senators — including Republicans Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — voted in favor of the bill; 39 voted against it. 60 “yeas” were needed to advance the bill.
Reported VP contender J.D. Vance (Ohio), one of Trump’s most devout right-wing MAGA supporters, sat out the vote. The fourth VP contender, Governor of North Dakota Doug Burgum, could not vote on the Senate bill, though his previous legislative activity indicates a tendency to align line with his MAGA colleagues. In April 2023, Burgum signed a near-total ban on abortion in North Dakota.
On Fox News, when Scott was asked why he voted against the bill, he blamed Democrats for “politicizing the issue” and attempting to “demonize Republicans.”
Fox host: You just voted against a woman’s right to contraception
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) June 5, 2024
Trump VP contender Tim Scott: Yes, I did
Fox host: Why?
Scott: It’s a shame that Democrats are trying to politicize this issue pic.twitter.com/3fTQUoOMMl
[President Joe Biden called the Republican opposition to the bill “unacceptable” and said: “We will continue to urge Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law and safeguard the right to contraception once and for all.”]
Note: When running for city council in Charleston in the 1990s, Scott often described himself as a “proud” 30-year-old virgin and said: “At the end of the day, the Bible is very clear: abstinence until marriage. Not to do so is a sin.”
In 2012, as an unwed U.S. Representative, Scott was asked if he stuck to his pledge of abstinence. Scott replied, “Not as well as I did then.” In January 2024, after suspending his presidential campaign, Scott announced his engagement to interior designer Mindy Noce.
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