U.S. Senator and Republican presidential hopeful Tim Scott rolled out a new campaign ad Monday in Iowa and New Hampshire in front of two significant campaign events in the first nominating states.
In the ad, titled “Commander in Chief,” the South Carolina senator denounces China for spying on children, stealing U.S. jobs, and buying up American farmland.
“China is the biggest threat to American security,” Scott says in the 30-second spot. He appears to be standing on an aircraft carrier. “Emboldened by Joe Biden’s weakness, they are buying up our farmland, spying on our kids, and stealing our jobs.”
As president, Scott vows to “keep China out of our homeland and out of our data.”
The presidential contestant also asserts that he would return the U.S. military “to the fiercest fighting machine in the world.”
“I’m Tim Scott and I approve this message because we need a commander in chief with a backbone,” the senator says in closing the ad, which is part of a multi-million ad buy in Iowa and the Granite State.
Scott has spent heavily thus far in the first nominating states, with less than six months to go before the race for delegates begins in earnest. Iowa Republican caucuses are scheduled for January 15, 2024; New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary will be held shortly thereafter.
The ad comes ahead of Scott’s town hall in New Hampshire Tuesday, and his town hall with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on July 27.
Last week, Scott announced he had raised $6.1 million in the second quarter, a solid haul for a candidate who officially entered the crowded field of Republican presidential contenders in late May.
Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson grilled Scott on foreign policy at Friday’s Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines. The former Fox News host asked the senator if he was concerned that the United States is moving toward war with Russia. Carlson noted President Joe Biden’s call-up last week of 3,000 reservists to be ready for Europe deployments.
“We should never allow American soldiers to be engulfed into the challenge between Ukraine and Russia. Our boots on the ground should not be there,” Scott said to applause.
Some U.S. troops are already on the ground in Ukraine.
Scott doubled down on his support to fight against Russian Vladimir Putin’s acts of aggression and “genocide” in Ukraine. He said the U.S. must continue to provide the resources to assist its NATO allies and Ukraine in “degrading” Russia’s war-making capabilities.
Such support is proving to be unpopular among a growing number of conservative voters, even as a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted late last month found three-quarters of Americans supporting military aid to Ukraine.
“One of the failures of President Biden has been his inability to articulate America’s vital interests in the conflict …” Scott said. “America’s vital interest is degrading the Russian military. When we degrade the Russian military we make sure our home front is safer and that our NATO allies and partners that would cause us to send soldiers over [are] safe.”
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
