Time will tell if the Tim Scott campaign has legs

Tim Scott pitches hopeful future in presidential campaign launch: 'We are not in decline'
by Naomi Lim, White House Reporter |
May 22, 2023 11:25 AM

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) criticized President Joe Biden for leading the country into "retreat" as he launched his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination with an optimistic, faith-driven message about the future.

"Joe Biden and the radical Left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb," Scott told a crowd of 2,000 Monday in his hometown of North Charleston, South Carolina. "That is why I am announcing today that I am running for president of the United States of America!"

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TIM SCOTT AHEAD OF HIS BIG 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT

Scott's announcement address, which started awkwardly due to his already hoarse voice breaking during his introduction, was briefly interrupted by audio problems, and concluded with a chant of, "Let's go," also included critiques of Biden's approach to the pandemic, the economy, and the southern border, in addition to his foreign, energy, education, and crime policies.

"Our nation, our values, and our people are strong. But our president is weak. America is not a nation in decline. But under Joe Biden, we have become a nation in retreat," he said. "Retreating from our heritage and our history. Retreating from personal responsibility and hard work. Retreating from strength and security. Even retreating from religious liberty and the worship of God himself."

Scott's campaign pitch as the only black Republican in the Senate, made at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, is entwined with his personal story as the son of a single working mother and the grandson of a cotton picker. The senator's underscoring of "grievance" politics has also been perceived as a dig at former President Donald Trump, the front-runner to become the Republican standard-bearer next year.

"This is the freest and fairest land. Where you and I can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take us. I bear witness to that. I testify to that. That’s why I’m the candidate the far Left fears the most," Scott said. "When I cut your taxes, they called me a prop. When I refunded the police, they called me a token. When I pushed back on President Biden, they even called me the N-word. I disrupt their narrative. I threaten their control. The truth of my life disproves their lies."

"Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing," he added. "Victimhood or victory? Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom and hope and opportunity. Will you choose it with me?"

Scott embarks on his presidential bid with an enviable $22 million in cash thanks to his Senate reelection campaign last year. He also has the endorsement of Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's second-in-command, and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD). Elon Musk additionally shared a Twitterlink to Scott's remarks, during which the senator referenced Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison as a mentor.

Scott is poised to travel to Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday and Merrimack, New Hampshire, on Thursday, with his team already spending $6 million on television and radio ads in those states.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, who is also from South Carolina, charged Scott with aspiring "to govern from the ‘far, conservative Right’ as a proud member of the Tea Party, and his extreme record proves it."

"Even before he refused to name a policy difference with Trump, Scott was a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda — supporting national abortion bans and championing plans to end Medicare and Social Security as we know them," Harrison said. "As an ‘architect’ of Trump’s tax law, Scott gifted corporations billions and has been a longtime champion of rolling back regulations on big banks."

“There’s no question that special interests are celebrating as Tim Scott throws his hat into the 2024 race for the MAGA base," he went on.