Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina has launched his 2024 presidential bid five weeks after alluding to his interests.
Scott filed a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on May 19. Although he has not made a formal announcement, Scott reportedly plans to spend millions on television advertisements in key primary states.
He joins former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former President Donald Trump in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
The South Carolina native was born September 16, 1965 and was raised in what he describes as a "poor, single-parent household" by his mother. Scott ran his own insurance agency and is a partner at Pathway Real Estate Group, LLC. He held a number of state-level positions before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2010.
Scott was appointed to Senate in 2013 by Haley to complete the remainder of Senator Jim DeMint’s term. He was reelected in 2014 and 2016. Currently, he sits on the Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Finance Committee, the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and the Special Committee on Aging.
The Senator launched an exploratory committee on April 12, coinciding with the anniversary of the start of the Civil War. He released a video titled “Faith in America” noting the ideological difference between the left and right wings of American politics.
“Today, our country is once again being tested,” said Scott. “Once again, our divisions run deep and the threat to our future is real.”
“Joe Biden and the radical left have chosen a culture of grievance over greatness. They are promoting victimhood instead of personal responsibility,” the senator continued. “And they are indoctrinating our children to believe we live in an evil country. And all too often when they get called out for their failures, they weaponize race to divide us – to hold on to their power.”
“I know America is a land of opportunity, not a land of oppression,” Scott said. “I know it because I have lived it.”
He warned that if “the radical left gets their way,” more families will be “trapped in failing schools, crime-ridden neighborhoods, and crushing inflation.”
NPR noted Scott is the “only Black Republican currently in the U.S. Senate.”
According to Fox News, Scott’s campaign will spend $6 million on commercials, beginning with $5.5 million in statewide ads in New Hampshire and Iowa.
