NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (CN) — Senator Tim Scott highlighted his humble beginnings and deep Christian faith as he announced his presidential campaign at a hometown rally Monday.
The 57-year-old Black Republican told the crowd gathered at Charleston Southern University, his alma mater, that he was raised by a single mother who worked 16-hour days to support the family after his parents' divorce. His grandfather, born in the Jim Crow Era, was forced to leave school in the third grade to pick cotton, Scott said, but he lived long enough to see his son “pick a seat in Congress.”
“My family went from cotton to Congress in his lifetime,” the senator said.
Scott rose through the ranks of local and state politics before joining Congress, navigating the contentious racial politics of the South with sunny optimism and a pro-business agenda.
He is the second candidate from the Palmetto State to join the Republican nominating contest after former Governor Nikki Haley announced her campaign in February. The erstwhile statehouse allies will compete for the South Carolina primary — third after Iowa and New Hampshire — while hoping to build enough national momentum to challenge a third bid from former President Donald Trump.
Scott was elected in 1995 to the Charleston County Council, becoming the first Black Republican elected to office in South Carolina since the Reconstruction Era. In 2008, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, but left the statehouse two years later after winning the seat for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
In 2012, Haley appointed Scott to replace retiring U.S. Senator Jim Demint. He handedly beat out a Democratic challenger for the seat two years later, becoming the first African American senator elected in the South in more than a century.
The insurance agent and financial adviser has received top marks from the fiscally conservative Club for Growth while fighting for right-to-work laws and lower taxes. He proposed adding the “opportunity zones” program to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which provides tax advantages for certain investments in lower-income areas.
Scott helped lead the GOP's response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020, drafting legislation that would, among other things, create a database for police disciplinary records for use in hiring and provide grants for purchasing law enforcement body cameras.
Democrats blocked Scott’s bill with a filibuster, calling the reforms inadequate.
Scott criticized Trump for failing to show “moral authority” in the aftermath of the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, but the politician emphasized Monday that anyone who works hard can succeed in America.
“Today, I am living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not a land of oppression,” he told the crowd of supporters.
He said the country was "retreating" from patriotism and faith under President Joe Biden, pointing to the rising influence of China and the unsecured southern border, but he sought to distance himself from the more divisive rhetoric of his competitors.
“We need a president who not only persuades our friends and our base,” he said, “we need a president who persuades through common sense and has compassion for the people who don’t agree with us.”
Wilt Staples, of Summerville, said he found Scott’s story to be inspiring and agreed with his message about personal responsibility.
He said he would support Scott in the South Carolina primary if it were held today.
“I didn’t hear anything I wouldn’t vote for,” Staples said.
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