Tim Scott declares it's 'Iowa or bust' for his presidential campaign

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has stated that his performance in the Iowa Caucus will be a key determinate as to whether he remains in the Republican presidential primary.

"We have made the decision that it’s Iowa or bust for us, and I’m looking forward to being there," he said Monday on the "Hugh Hewitt Show." Pressed on whether a less-than-second-place finish in Iowa or New Hampshire would prompt his exit, Scott insisted that he would perform well in the Hawkeye State.

"You know, Hugh, I’m not going to make any predictions other than that we will be in the top two in Iowa without any question," was Scott's reply.

The remarks followed Hewitt's pointing to a recent NBC/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll showing former President Donald Trump with 43% support in Iowa, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley each took 16%. Scott placed fourth with 7%.

"[I]t’s one of the reasons why we’re heading to Iowa and staying there consistently," Scott said of the poll numbers. "[B]ecause we realize that historically speaking, Iowa voters, they break late in the cycle, and that’s great news, having an opportunity for us to continue to share our message. And to do it full-time in Iowa will be very helpful."

Scott currently places fourth in the state in most polls, earning 6.0% in the RealClearPolitics average. At the national level, however, he is further behind, with 1.6% support in the same metric. Apart from Trump, DeSantis, and Haley, tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie poll ahead of him nationally. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his campaign over the weekend. He was polling ahead of Scott, nationally, with 3.5% support.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.