U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, of South Carolina, has announced the launch of his presidential exploratory committee in a video posted to social media.
In the video, Scott compared the current state of politics to that of the civil war, where America is “once again being tested,” with “Joe Biden and the radical left [having] chose a culture of grievance over greatness. Democrats are “indoctrinating our children to believe we live in an evil country” and “weaponis[ing] race to divide us,” according to Scott.
Scott declared that if he were to enter the 2024 presidential race, he would defend the “Judeo-Christian” foundation of America, “stand up to communist China,” fight for parental choices in education, “defend our borders,” and protect “the right to life itself.”
On his website, Scott further railed against leftist educational programs, such as CRT and inappropriate sexual education, and the need for police to actually send criminals to prison, rather than be defunded and leave citizens “scared to leave the house.”
However, Scott has received serious criticism from many Republicans, including Revolver News’ Darren Beattie, who argued that Scott, instead of being an ally to police and standing up against anti-white CRT, he “enabled the Democratic Party’s pro-crime, anti-police push of 2020” and “gave into the systemic racism hoax instead of standing up to it.”
One example Beattie gave in a 2021 article that was reposted following his announcement, Scott suggested that the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha was unjustified, despite that Blake was wielding a knife at the time, and officers believed they were stopping a kidnapping.
➡️ 102 days since George Floyd was murdered.
➡️ 72 days since @SenateDems blocked police reform.
➡️ 12 days since Jacob Blake was paralyzed.
⁉️ Days until Senate Dems come to their senses, vote to move forward, get to conference committee and see police reform signed into law.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) September 4, 2020
Other conservatives were quick to highlight Scott’s pattern when it comes to supporting American intervention in foreign wars, with Scott even claiming that despite spending billions of dollars on the conflict, the Biden administration had provided “too little support” to the embattled nation.
Tim Scott thinks the Biden Administration has provided Ukraine “too little support” pic.twitter.com/ML7ywxMhsC
— Kingsley Cortes (@KingsleyCortes) April 12, 2023
The Spectator is reporting that Senator Tim Scott, the most boring man in the Republican Party, is planning to challenge President Trump.
We firmly reject Tim Scott and his RINO, weak, Chamber of Commerce funded agenda. Our party has long moved past his brand of politics. pic.twitter.com/rCKmyXhERo
— Republicans for National Renewal (@RNRenewal) April 11, 2023
Scott will also likely face tough challenges from those who also don’t want to see President Trump, the current front-runner, become the official 2024 presidential challenger, including fellow South Carolina politician Nikki Haley.
In a new poll that was released on the same day as Scott’s announcement, the South Carolina Senator only received 7% of support from residents in the state, trailing behind Haley’s 18%, to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s 20%. Trump maintained a secure lead, with 41% support in the state.
GOP pundits: "We have the perfect plan to stop Trump. This time we must consolidate around a single anti-Trump alternative and not split the field, like in 2016"
Nikki Haley and Tim Scott: "Let's both run for some reason, to ensure Trump gets a plurality in South Carolina" pic.twitter.com/TIFAQB8a1L
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) April 12, 2023
2024 South Carolina Republican Primary
• Trump — 41%
• DeSantis — 20%
• Haley — 18%
• T. Scott — 7%
• Pence — 5%
• Pompeo — 2%
• Sununu — 1%Winthrop University | 485 RV | E: ±4.5%https://t.co/B66s8I2psY
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) April 12, 2023
