South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, shortly after taking the stage before a crowd of Iowa evangelicals on Saturday night, was immediately struck by a personal question about his love life.
“So besides your mother, is there any special lady in your life?” Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird asked at the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Des Moines, where a number of Republican presidential candidates were participating in a town hall.
Scott, who said “yes” to the audience, joked that it was “one of the most asked questions lately,” and said he was surprised if anyone in the audience hadn’t read about her yet.
“I’m in a relationship with a nice Christian girl,” said Scott, answering the question for the first time since a lengthy Washington Post report on his relationship status and its mystery was published earlier this week.
“One of the things I love about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it always points us in the right direction. Proverbs 18:22 says, “Whoever finds a wife finds something good and obtains favor from the Lord,” he added.
Scott, 57, then knelt on the floor and asked the room to please pray for him before quickly standing up with a big grin. The audience laughed.
Scott has never been married, raising questions in Republican circles about the presidential candidate’s relationship status, especially as he seeks to court evangelical voters. Although the percentage of adults who remain single into adulthood has risen in recent years, the Republican Party, especially its more religious voter bloc, continues to cling to traditional ideas about marriage and family.
“As a man who grew up in a single-parent home living in poverty, I understand the devastation when a family falls apart. I live with the consequences of a father who was not there. I promised I would make sure this would never happen in my life,” Scott said. “I am so grateful that I know a risen savior who helped guide my path, and I am so grateful that he allowed my life to cross paths with the right person at the right time. And I just say, praise the living God.”
