Fellow Republicans blast Tim Scott's 'woefully unprepared' campaign team
Senate Republicans and the White House are growing increasingly exasperated with the National Republican Senatorial Committee — the party's nationwide campaign arm for the GOP in the Senate — as its chair, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and his top strategist appear to be running operations into the ground.
According to NOTUS, over a dozen GOP staffers and aides "described an organization that has devolved into dysfunction," and "both senators and the White House are growing more incensed with the campaign arm by the day, the sources say."
The anger is directed at both Scott, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, and executive director Jennifer DeCasper, who are widely considered to be "unserious" and incapable of leadership.
“I have never seen so much rank incompetence, in just mind-boggling fashion,” one GOP strategist told NOTUS. “They’re woefully unprepared for what is coming down the pike.”
GOP frustrations were highlighted by an incident last year in which DeCasper "required all of her staff to take time off work and board a rented bus" to go to an expensively-staged surprise birthday party for Scott, then filmed the whole thing and posted it to her public X account, as well as another in which DeCasper brought her small dog to strategy meetings, which proceeded to walk around on the conference table on one occasion.
"DeCasper ran Scott’s short-lived 2024 campaign and has been a longtime aide to the South Carolina senator. The two are almost inseparable," the report continued. "Republicans both inside and outside the NRSC have run into problems because of DeCasper’s tight control, they say. There have been weeks when DeCasper has disappeared without explanation or warning, three sources told NOTUS, making it difficult to get a hold of Scott." Meanwhile, DeCasper's sister has been appointed Scott's Senate chief of staff, further broadening her influence.
This also comes at a moment when Trump has ill feelings for Scott in other regards. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, was one of the first to criticize a racist video Trump promoted depicting the Obamas as monkeys. Trump responded by icing out Scott.