South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic message he hopes can contrast the two figures who have used political combativeness to dominate the early Republican primary field: former president Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Scott, the Senate’s only Black Republican, made the announcement in his hometown of North Charleston at Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
“Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing. Victimhood or victory?” he told cheering supporters, adding, “Grievance or greatness?
“I choose freedom, and hope and opportunity.”
He said the party needs a candidate who can energize more than just its base.
Scott has frequently denounced Democrats for raising what he calls false social and political grievances. But offering such sentiments about his party could be an alternative to Trump, who has for years repeated lies about how he was denied a second term by widespread fraud that did not occur during the 2020 presidential election.
DeSantis, meanwhile, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion and LGBTQ rights, and seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one his state’s most powerful business interests.
Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors after the kickoff event, then begin a whirlwind, two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first in Republican presidential primary voting.
The announcement gathering included an opening prayer by Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, who said, “I think our country is ready to be inspired again.” Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota’s other senator, has already announced his support for Scott.
A number of high-profile Republican senators have already backed Trump’s third bid for the White House, though, including Scott’s South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone to start, welcoming Scott to the race in an online post Monday and noting the pair worked together on his administration’s signature tax cut.
Cash on hand
A source of strength for Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history, with $22 million US left in his campaign account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers.
His team says it’s enough money to keep Scott on the air with continuous TV ads in early voting states until the first round of votes next year.
Scott also won re-election in firmly Republican South Carolina — which votes third on the Republican presidential primary calendar — by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisers bet that can make Scott a serious contender for an early primary victory that could give him momentum heading deeper into the primary race.
But Scott is not the only South Carolina option. The state’s former governor, Nikki Haley, who also once served as Trump’s former United Nations ambassador, formally entered the primary race months ago.
Like others in the Republican race, including former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scott’s early task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week.
One way Scott hopes to do that is his trademark optimistic rhetoric. With his Christian faith an integral part of his political and personal story, Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his stump speech and even bestowing the name “Faith in America” on his pre-launch listening tour.
Scott said Monday that America’s promise means “you and I can go as high as our character, our grit and our talent will take us.”
“That’s why I’m the candidate the far left fears the most.”
The Democratic National Committee responded to Scott’s announcement by dismissing the notion that Scott offers much of an alternative to Trump’s policies.
DNC chair Jamie Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement Monday calling the senator “a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda,” a reference to the former president’s Make America Great Again movement.
For all the latest World News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
