Just before heading back to Iowa on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) announced he is launching a presidential exploratory committee, moving one step closer to a run for the White House.
Scott announced the formation of the committee in a video opening with a shot of Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay. As Scott notes, it was there — on April 12, 1861, that the first shots of America’s Civil War rang out. The bloody, brutal war pitted brother against brother, but ultimately ended the scourge of slavery in the United States of America.
“Today, our country is once again being tested, and once again our division runs deep and the threat to our future is real,” Scott said.
The senator assertedPresident Joe Biden and the radical left have “chosen a culture of grievance over greatness,” and are “promoting victimhood instead of personal responsibility” while “indoctrinating our children to believe we live in an evil country.”
Scott, one of the nation’s leading black conservatives, said he’s been marginalized by the left, called a “token” and a “prop” for disrupting the victimhood narrative. He grew up in poverty and was raised by a single mother. Through faith and an unwavering belief that his family could share in the American Dream, Scott said he has lived the fact that “America is a land of opportunity, not a land of oppression.”
“They know the truth of my life disproves their lies,” he said.
“That’s why it pains my soul to see the Biden liberals attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb,” Scott added. “If the radical left gets their way, millions more families will be trapped in failing schools, crime-ridden neighborhoods and crushing inflation.”
If Scott ultimately declares his candidacy for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, he definitely was in the right place Wednesday.
The senator met with homeschool families in the Cedar Rapids area before attending the Five Seasons Republican Women dinner at the Cedar Rapids County Club. Cedar Rapids is the second-largest city in the nation’s first-in-the-nation caucus state.
Scott has been to Iowa a few times this year, and is making his way around New Hampshire, which will hold the Republican Party’s first presidential primary of the 2024 campaign season shortly after Iowa’s caucuses early next year.
“I’ve been (in Iowa) a lot,” he told the Des Moines Register. “But the truth is that when you’re thinking about the next step, you want to make sure that you’re listening to the American people. And certainly here, the first caucus in the country, it’s really important to not just hop in very quickly but to actually listen, assess and make sure that the message that I have — which is an optimistic, positive message anchored in conservatism — actually resonates.”
He looks to enter an increasingly crowded field of contenders, including early frontrunner former President Donald Trump. Trump is dominating the polls, in Iowa and nationally, followed distantly by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Ohio anti-woke crusader Vivek Ramaswamy, and several other possible contenders. Trump, Haley, Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson have declared their candidacy.
Scott has some key Republican support, including Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) and South Dakota’s two Republican Senators, John Thune and Mike Rounds, who have encouraged their colleague to run.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison claims Scott has an “extreme record” that proves he wants to “govern from the ‘far, conservative right.'”
“There’s no question that special interests are celebrating as Tim Scott throws his hat into the 2024 race for the MAGA base,” Harrison said in a statement.
Scott said his journey toward a presidential run is “personal.”
“This is a fight we must win,” he said. “And that will take faith. Faith in God, faith in each other and faith in America.”
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Tim Scott” by Tim Scott.
