Republican senator Tim Scott announces candidacy for President
First-ever black senator from South Carolina announces bid for Republican presidential nomination … but is it more likely he ends up as Donald Trump’s running mate?
Donald Trump has used the arrival of a new Republican presidential contender, senator Tim Scott, as an opportunity to mock his rival Ron DeSantis, who is also expected to join the growing field of GOP hopefuls later this week.
Senator Scott, 57, gave an aspirational speech to a packed hall of supporters at his alma mater Charleston Southern University on Monday (Tuesday AEST), emphasising his rise as the first-ever black senator from South Carolina while avoiding any mention of Mr Trump or any other Republican candidates.
“For those of you who wonder if it’s possible for a broken kid from a broken home to rise beyond their circumstances, the answer is yes. For those of you who wonder if America is a racist country take a look,” he said, gesturing to his mother, who raised him and his brothers alone while working as a nursing assistant.
“My family went from cotton to Congress in [my grandfather’s] lifetime. And it was only possible because [he] had a stubborn faith – faith in God, faith in himself and faith in what America would be,” he added in a speech that included passages from the bible.
Scott, an evangelical Christian who says he has no policy differences with Mr Trump, was appointed to the Senate in 2012 by then-governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, also a declared candidate for the GOP nomination.
Mr Trump, who has had cordial relations with both, wished him “good luck” on his social media platform Truth Social, reserving any animus for his former protégé Mr DeSantis, who has spectacularly fallen out with Mr Trump in recent months.
“It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable,” Mr Trump said.
Trump describes Tim Scott as "a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious" in his Truth Social post about Scott's announcement pic.twitter.com/m8L34s2Txg
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 22, 2023
The Florida governor, a polarising figure nationally who won a second term as governor in a landslide in November, has been touring swing states and is expected to announce his own bid for president as early as Wednesday (Thursday AEST), amid speculation former New Jersey governor Chris Christie will also throw his hat in to the ring.
Mr DeSantis, 44, told Republican donors on a phone call last week that only he, Mr Trump and Mr Biden were “credible … and I think of those three, two have a chance to get elected president — Biden and me”.
Senator Scott has low single-digit support among GOP voters, which typically put Mr Trump well ahead of his declared rivals Ms Hayley, 37-year old entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson, the 72-year-old former governor of Arkansas.
After a rocky start in November, Mr Trump has become the clear frontrunner in the field despite his actual and anticipated legal woes: 58 per cent supported him compared with 16 per cent for Mr DeSantis, the second best showing, according to the latest Harvard-Harris national poll of 2000 Americans published last week.
A talented fundraiser, Senator Scott has $US22 million left over from his senate campaign according to Federal Election Commission filings, more than Mr Trump’s $14 million and Ms Hayley’s $4.1 million as of March 31.
The second term senator has already bought $6 million in advertisements for Iowa and New Hampshire, where Republican primaries for the 2024 presidential nomination begin in January next year.
Florida congressman Byron Donalds, a declared Trump supporter, described Senator Scott – who could end up Mr Trump’s vice presidential pick depending on how the contest pans out – as “an incredible man and steadfast in his faith and love of country”.
“As a fellow Black Republican, his entering the race for the GOP nomination is a major upset to the narrative driven by the media and the Left,” he said in a statement.
Animosity between the two leading GOP candidates belies their slim differences on policy, which extend mainly to Mr Trump’s determination to complain about the 2020 election results, which he lost, while Mr DeSantis has highlighted his hands-off response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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