Sen. Tim Scott announces run for 2024 presidency, calls for America to end racial division

Sen. Tim Scott who rose from a childhood in to become South Carolina's first Black senator, and now the Senate's only Black Republican, declared his candidacy for president on Monday, entering the 2024 presidential race.  

Reports indicate he is coming into the race with $22 million, more funds available than most of his Republican competitors.

The 57-year-old senator held the official announcement event at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University.

“Hello, South Carolina!” he shouted with a smile as he entered the stage at 11:24 a.m.

“You all look fantastic! I am so happy to be back in North Charleston, South Carolina, and I can’t tell you how much I mean this from the depths of my heart, but I am so proud to be an American … America is the greatest nation on God’s green Earth and our greatness doesn’t come from politicians or government, it comes from we the people.”

Scott then thanked his mother whom he called his “favorite American,” and invited her on stage as he told his story about growing up, facing economic challenges.

“When you think of the miracle of America, it comes down to having people who love unconditionally… and for me, it’s my mom.”

He then thanked his mother for her “sacrifice” and for “standing strong” while raising him in a “broken home,” asserting that “unconditional love binds people together.”

Following his mother, he invited a White woman to join them on stage, a close, longtime family friend, which he said was evidence the nation can come together and overcome racial hurdles. 

“We are not bound together by the color of our skin, we are bound together by our character and if anyone tells you otherwise, they’re lying,” he said.

“We live in the land where it is absolutely possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single parent in a small apartment to one day serve in the People’s House and maybe even the White House,” Scott said.

After telling stories about his great grandfather picking cotton in the deep south, he said he lived long enough to see him ascend to Congress, Scott talked about having faith in God and America, and said it was time to push through racial division.

Scott filed official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to enter the race on Friday, and started a $6 million ad campaign in New Hampshire and Iowa, the first two states of the Republican nominating contest.

Reports indicate he will visit Iowa and New Hampshire later this week.

The ad campaign will start Wednesday and run through the first Republican primary debate, currently scheduled for late August.

He has already received the endorsement of Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who opened the announcement ceremony with a prayer.

Thune may prove to be a critical vote of support since he serves as the Senate’s second ranking Republican.

So far, Scott has offered a positive strategy, arguing that “America is not a nation in decline,” but that under President Biden’s leadership, it has become “a nation in retreat.”

“While he's polling in the low single digits, major donors, including Oracle founder Larry Ellison, are banking on the senator's optimistic disposition breaking through -- and allowing him to overtake former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, both ahead of him in voter surveys,” said a Monday morning report filed by ABC News.

Scott started his exploratory committee for a presidential run on April 12, marking the anniversary for the start of the Civil War. He made the announcement of Fort Sumter, the U.S. Army installation first taken by the Confederacy in 1861, and urged America to overcome its racial divisions.

“I will be the president who destroys the liberal lie that America is an evil country,” he said. “We need to stop cancelling our forefathers and start celebrating them for the geniuses they were. They were not perfect, but they believed we could become a more perfect union.”

He added he would also be the president who stopped the left’s “assault on religious liberty” and then cited words from the Pledge of Allegiance, saying America would be the nation that “honored its creator” and “respected every innocent life.”

He added that he believed America was the fairest and freest nation in the world.

“That’s why I’m the candidate the left fears the most. When I cut your taxes, they called me a prop. When I re-funded 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.”