Global Courant 2023-05-22 20:43:41
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC — Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate, announced Monday that he is running for president.
“Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb,” Scott said. “And that is why I am announcing today that I am running for President of the United States of America.”
Scott’s offer has been in the works for months as he teased his announcement over the past few weeks, first announcing an exploratory commission in April and then officially filing the paperwork on Friday. He joins a fast-growing field of contenders looking to defeat former President Donald Trump, the current Republican frontrunner who has a commanding lead in the GOP primary.
Scott was first appointed to the South Carolina Senate in 2012, by the then government. Nikki Haley — now a presidential rival — to replace outgoing Senator Jim DeMint. Scott later won election to serve the rest of his term in 2014 and won full terms in 2016 and again last year. Scott’s political career began in the mid-1990s on the Charleston County Council before serving in the State House and U.S. House.
With Scott and Haley, there are now two high-profile South Carolina politicians in the GOP race. After her governorship, Haley served in the Trump administration as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The early South Carolina primary has long been considered one of the most important on the presidential nomination calendar.
During a campaign interview with reporters last week, senior Scott staffers laid out their theory of why their candidate can win, promoting him as uniquely qualified for the job and as a messenger who can win over independents and Democrats without deviating from conservative policy positions. Scott’s ability to raise money will also give him an edge, these officials said.
Scott will not stray from hot-button cultural issues during the primary, but will try to run a more positive campaign that raises grievances and victimization promoted on both sides, senior campaign officials said.
While voters shouldn’t expect Scott to come out of the gate to attack former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s current presidential frontrunner, Scott has already spoken of the need for the party to nominate someone who can beat the Democrats next fall — an implied shot at Trump that some of his rivals have already made.
“People want a fighter, that’s good, but they also want to win, that’s better,” Scott told reporters in Iowa last month. “So the real question is, how do we do that? One of the ways we do that is to make sure our message is in sync with the nation.”
A NBC News poll conducted mid-April found Scott tied with Haley at 3%, behind Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam co-chairs Scott’s campaign, and has been backed by messages of support from fellow GOP Sens. Mike Rounds and John Thune, both from South Dakota. But while many of his GOP Senate colleagues have warm feelings for Scott, most have been unwilling to officially support his campaign in talks with NBC News.
Scott, whose voting record scores one of the party’s more conservative senators, he has traveled to the early voting states in recent months, crossing Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as part of a “listening tour” as his campaign began to come into full focus . Mid April, Scott toured all three states to meet with voters, key activists and donors.
At a February event in Charleston, Scott detailed his personal story of overcoming child poverty and hinted at the principles of a possible presidential agenda: promoting opportunity zones, conservative police reforms, reining in federal spending and introducing school choice policies.
“There is a way for us to unite this country around basic principles that move us forward, but we have to put behind us the lie that this is the worst time in American history — only if American history starts today,” Scott said.
At one point, Scott suggested that conservatives are under siege and increasingly discriminated against. His remarks drew loud applause.
“Listen, I understand what it feels like to be treated like a second class citizen because of my skin color,” Scott said. “I refuse to be considered a second-class citizen because of the color of my party.”
Scott is one of the few top-level challengers to Trump who doesn’t owe some of his political success to a job in Trump’s administration or an endorsement that helped him through a disputed primary.
Posting on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump wished Scott “Good luck” with his bid and took the opportunity to hit DeSantis.
“It fills up quickly with a lot of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable,” Trump added. “I did Opportunity Zones with Tim, a big deal that has been very successful. Good luck Tim!”
The South Carolina senator also enters the presidential race with more than $20 million in cash, putting him ahead of many of his rivals. Scott, who will travel to Iowa and New Hampshire after its launch on Monday, has already posted a $6 million ad buy for TV and radio that will begin Wednesday in those states.
