And joining me now is Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. Senator Scott, welcome back to Meet the Press. Thank you, Kristen. Thanks for having me this morning. Good Sunday morning to you. Thank you so much for being here. Good Monday morning to your. Let's start right there. In South Carolina, you were campaigning for Senator Darlene Graham. As you know, she got a lot of attention this week during a debate when she was asked about a key national security issue. I want to play it. Get your reaction on the other side. Take a look. Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States? And if so, why or how? I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not on national security that I'm not that informed on national security, so. But I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, So I will do everything I can to support the military. My dad was in the Army. I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise. But I do support the Military. Senator Scott, is Darlene Graham qualified to be a U.S. Senator? Well, there's no doubt, Kristen, that Darllene Graham is the real deal. One of the things I took away from Friday night's rally with President Trump, President Trump did a fabulous job of making it personal. He talked about his amazing relationship with Lindsey Graham and how much time Lindsey Graham spent running around the world trying to make sure that Americans were safe here at home, but mostly abroad as well. And then he pivoted to Darlene Graham and he said some really important things. I said earlier this year, 2026 is a year of affordability. And President Trump nailed it when he said that Darlene Graham understands the issues facing Americans today and South Carolinians today, the issues of affordabilty. She goes to the grocery store. She understands the prices of eggs and meat and some of the challenges facing the American people. She focuses on helping people with disabilities for the last 30 years as their career. She is ready to take on the issues that everyday Americans are facing. And, Kristen, one other thing that's really important. I watched her on the campaign trail. I watched她 go through two funerals for her brother. And then I watched HER carefully for 30 days in the Senate, casting deciding votes for the AG, working on getting her first bill passed, the Russia sanctions bill. What did I assess? highly qualified, incredibly competent, ready for prime time. She's ready to tackle the issues of affordability for the American people, and she's ready to serve the great state of South Carolina in the United States Senate. I ask every Republican in South Carolina, vote Darlene Graham on Tuesday. But Senator Scott, should a U.S. senator have a basic understanding of national security issues? well the answer is yes and she does the question we're asking ourselves today is whether or not she is prepared to serve in the united states senate and represent the people of south carolina on the issues that are germane to the moment what are the issues of the moment and is she prepared to hit those issues she hits those issues spot on she hits the target bullseye how does she do so because she's been listening to people across our state for more than 30 years. She ran a state agency for seven years. She understands the critical issues of affordability. Frankly, she's actually gotten a vote on her bill passed through the Senate, signed into law, which is more than her opponent. So what we know without question is Darlene Graham is ready to serve the United States of America starting here at home in South Carolina. Senator, how confident are you that Darlene Graham can win on Tuesday? Very confident. It's one of the reasons why I waited 30 days to make sure that I felt like she was ready. I can tell you as a senior senator for the great state of South Carolina, the person I want in the Senate with me, Darlane Graham, representing the people of South Carolina. All right. Easy choice. Let's talk about the broader state of play for the Senate. According to the Cook Political Report, six of the key battleground races have shifted out of Republicans' favor since April. Texas and Iowa moved from lean Republican to toss up just this week. As chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, why do you think that so many of these Republican-leaning races have now moved to toss-ups? well i am very confident that we will be in the majority at the end of november uh this year and let me tell you why we are facing the most dangerous radical and frankly kristin weird democrats i've seen in my lifetime let's start in texas james talarico believes that god is non-binary he's a person who's so out of step with texans that we're seeing a coalition building around our candidate, Paxton, Republicans and Democrats and independents coming together to make sure that James Tallarico never sees the Senate floor. We're going to talk. You turn your attention to Michigan, Abdul El-Said, the same kind of dangerous, radical, weird candidate. They're all over the country. We feel really good about where we are. And if you want to go back to Iowa, we have Ashley Henson, a strong, powerful candidate running very strong in her state. And on the other side, we have Josh Turek, who has never seen a tax increase he didn't like. We're talking about someone willing to take resources out of the pockets of people working overtime. We are talking about someone who believes that raising taxes will help people in Iowa meet their needs. Let's talk about some of these states that you just raised. Let's start in Texas. Democrat James Tallarico, as you just said, facing off against Ken Paxton. Paxton has faced allegations of bribery, fraud, abuse of power. He was impeached by his own party. You endorsed Senator John Cornyn in the primary against Paxton, so why do you now believe Ken Paxton has the character to serve in the U.S. Senate? Well, I can tell you this. what we know with great clarity is that James Tallarico does not have the character to serve in the United States Senate, nor does he have the right issue, right position on the issues that Texans care most about. I'll say it very clearly and I'll Say it again. James Tallorico is out of step, completely out of Step with Texans. But does Paxton have the character to Serve? He was impeached by his own party. We raise the taxes. Kristen, At the end of the day, the contrast is clear and simple. James Tallarico will not be the senator for Texas. And there are a host of reasons from his position on the faith to his position on taxes, to his decision on boys playing against girls in sports. What we know with great certainty is that we will keep Texas red to the roots. All right. Let's talk about another state that you raised, another big state, Michigan, the faceoff between Democrat Abdul Al-Sayed and former Congressman Mike Rogers. The NRSC continues to put out social media posts claiming that Abdul Al Sayed has, quote, unquote, terrorist ties. And yet there is no evidence that he has terrorist ties, Senator. Should the NRSC stop running those ads? Well, we know without question that he had family members who helped resource Osama bin Laden. We know without questions that he campaigns with Piker, who said at one point that America deserved 9-11. Let's stay focused on Al-Sayed, though. Let's focus on Al Sayed and what he has said and believes in. Birds of a feather flock together. Birds of the feather flocked together. The company you keep does matter. We all know that. That's something we learned in elementary school. Well, let's go to where he stands on the issues, though. There's a reason why even former Biden administration folks are joining with Republicans and hosting fundraisers throughout Michigan to support Mike Rogers. Here's one of the reasons why. We've got a candidate in Abdul al-Sayed who wants to abolish ICE. He wants to defund the police. Here's a candidate so radical that even Democrats in Michigan are joining forces for the first time with Republicans to elect Mike Rogers. Just to be very clear, there is no evidence that al-Sayed supports any terrorist organization. I just want to read this. A Washington Post analysis online found that, quote, nearly one in three posts about al-Sayed from right wing figures mentioned Islam, Muslims or Sharia. Are Republicans trying to scare voters based on the fact that al- Sayed would be the first Muslim senator? Not at all. What we're more concerned about and only concerned about is the positions he has spoken about. He's the one that said he was committed to Sharia law. No one else said that besides Abdel El-Said, he's the one that said he wanted to eliminate much of the national security apparatus that protects America. At the same time, he campaigns with Piker, who says America deserved 9-11. And you add it all up. You've got to believe. Al-Sayed did denounce those comments. And he continues to campaign with them anyways. You can't denounce it with your words and do something different with your actions. We believe what you do, not just what you say. OK, I do want to talk to you about a major issue that's emerging in the midterms, AI data centers. President Trump has weighed in on this a number of times, including on Wednesday. I want to play a little bit of what he had to say. Take a look. If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state and I had a chance to get a big plant in an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it. Do Republicans want to be the pro-data center party, Senator? Well, we know that the Democrats, Governor Shapiro, was for data centers as well. What we know with a question, I wrote an op-ed, Kristen, about a month ago on the importance of data centers paying their own way, paying for their own electricity, paying for the water usage, and only going to communities that want them. But we also know that Democrats are being used as pawns for this disinformation campaign run by China to make sure that China wins the AI future instead of America. We absolutely have to make sure that data centers only go to communities that want them and they pay their own way. And that is a critical issue that we need to make Sure remains front and center for the country to watch as it unfolds before our very eyes. Well, on that point in Ohio, the NRSC in a private memo called data centers, quote, the anchor hanging around Republican Senator John Husted's neck because of his support and his history of supporting data centers. Do you believe that Senator Husted could lose Ohio because of His past support of data centers? I don't. I can tell you one thing about Ohioans. they are sick and tired of Sherrod Brown. It's why they kicked him out of office just a few years, two years ago. And what we'll see this time is the most radical, dangerous candidate in Ohio being Sherrod brown, who voted literally against cutting taxes for single mothers, like the one that raised me. Sherrod. Brown is so inconsistent with Ohio that after 50 years in office. They finally said enough is enough. They're not bringing him back. We're excited about where we are in Ohio, and we will continue to move the map in the right direction for the rest of this cycle. I have to ask you about the number one issue for voters. It is the economy. After trade talks fell apart with Canada, there are now 50 percent tariffs on 20 billion dollars worth of Canadian products set to go into effect. Back in 2018, Senator, you said you're concerned, quote, that tariffs will amount to nothing more than a tax on South Carolina families. Do you acknowledge that these new tariffs will cost Americans? Well, I can tell you without question is President Trump is laser focused on protecting American workers. Whether you're a union worker in Detroit, Michigan, or you're in a right to work state like South Carolina, the one thing we have in President Trump is a president who's focused on protecting American jobs against unfair practices. And how do we see that working out for us today? We see more Americans working today than in the history of America. And being home on Friday night with President Trump and Darlene Graham, the ones that we talked about was the issue of affordability. This is a really important issue. And that's one of the reasons why we are so encouraged by President Trump creating more jobs in America. Kristen, listen, we've seen, according to President Trump's numbers, over 19 trillion dollars of investment in America to build factories, to bring jobs home because he's created headwinds for other countries. But I'm talking about costs, Senator. I'm taking about costs. And American families are also paying more in the wake of President Trump. Taxes and tariffs. In fact, Senator Susan Collins of Maine said this, if the administration proceeds with these tariffs, they will increase costs for Maine families as most businesses will have no choice but to pass on the tariffs to their customers through higher prices. Is she right, particularly given that we have seen that in the past, given the president's tariffs? Well, Kristen, you're talking about a really important issue of cost. Let's look back at the original sin of cost in America in the last eight years. It goes to Joe Biden, who took inflation up 21% while he was president. Hold on, Senator. President Trump's been in office for two years. Let me finish. Let me finished. President Trump has brought inflation from a sky high 21% over the Biden years down to under 5% and right now hovering near 4%. Wait, inflation was at 3% when President Biden left office. It's at 3.4% right now. And the average household has paid $1,000 more in 2025 due to the tariffs, Senator. Let's not forget. Let's Not Forget the Truth. The truth tells a great story. On the first piece of legislation in 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act that we should all laugh at took inflation to 9% in July of 2021. accumulate the weight of inflation at the end of the Biden years, over $1,100 of lost spending power. President Trump inherited a weak economy and has built a resilient, strong economy with our wages going up and our costs flattening. Finally, every single Democrat in the Senate voted, this is really important, Kristen, voted to take money out of the pockets of senior citizens last year voted to stop helping people working overtime by letting them keep more of their money, voted to take money, not out of the rich people, but out of the working class waitresses. But hold on, Senator, these are the facts. When President Trump took office, inflation was at 3%. It's now at 3.4%. Gas prices are over $4 a gallon, up over a dollar from a year ago. President Trump's tariffs have cost American households nearly two thousand dollars. He promised he was going to bring prices down on day one. Did he break that promise? Prices have gone up. Well, good news is you don't disagree with the fact that Joe Biden brought 21 percent extra cost on the American families. We do. We're not talking about Joe Biden, though. The Biden administration is over. This is the Trump. We are two years into the Trump administration. It's a contrast, Kristen. At the end of the day, the American people need to see the contrast. And the good news is they're seeing the contrast, but I'm asking you radical, weird candidates coming out of the Senate for from the Democrats. And we're going to have a chance to let the American People tell us which party they prefer. I am betting not only on Republicans, I'm betting on us staying in the majority and even having a shot at increasing the majority. Senator, President Trump himself says he owns this economy. Is this now the Trump economy? He's been in office for two years. We're not talking about Joe Biden. We're talking about President Trump. He's the guy in office. There's no doubt. I want to make sure that the voters have the clear picture of more than just 18 months in office, the fact of the matter is that what precedes the 18 months matters, and then the 18 month also matters. And that's one of the reasons why when you look at President Trump making sure that working class Americans have more money, more of their own money to spend, that's a good thing. Democrats voting against that, that is a bad thing. All right. Senator, again, inflation was at 3 percent when President Trump took office. It's at 3.4 percent now. Very quickly, though, before I let you go, you ran for president back in 2024. Do you rule out another run in 2028? I'm running for reelection in 2029. I am thankful that the great state of South Carolina has afforded me the opportunity to continue to serve in the United States Senate this far. And I certainly pray that they will allow me to do so in 2028. Do you rule out running for president, though? I have no intention on running for President in 2029. I have every intention of making sure that whoever wins the nominee gets the full support, not only of Republicans, but of some Democrats and independents. It's time to unite this country around the Great Opportunity Party. And we have the issues and the positions that are consistent with the vast majority of the American people. It's Time to Go Sell Our Message. All right. Senator Scott, please come back. Keep us posted between now and the midterms. We really appreciate your joining us. Thank you so much. Thank you, Kristen. You have a great day. We thank you for watching. And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or watch live on our YouTube channel. Thank you.