Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) arrives for a closed-door briefing by intelligence officials about the Discord leaks at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on April 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
OAN’s Geraldyn Berry
12:14 PM –Friday, May 19, 2023
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott filed a Statement of Candidacy as a member of the Republican Party with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Friday.
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With the filing, the senator joins the GOP primary field that includes former President Donald Trump, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and talk radio host Larry Elder.
Scott disclosed last month that he had about $22 million in his Senate campaign account, which was speculated that he might utilize for a presidential run. Last year, Scott had handily won reelection in the state by 26 points.
According to a senior campaign insider, he is launching a $6 million ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire, one of the biggest single ad expenditures in the 2024 race so far. The initial $5.5 million TV ad buy will run from Wednesday until the first GOP debate in August. It will appear statewide on broadcast, cable satellite, and radio. Scott will also reportedly start a seven-figure digital advertising campaign during that time.
In February on a listening tour focused on “Faith in America,” he visited several early-voting states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. While there, he declared himself confident in his ability to defeat President Joe Biden and blasted the president for being “incompetent” and “coopted by the radical left in his party.”
“He ran as a uniter, he’s become a divider. You look at his policy positions. You look at the last State of the Union, what he said was that I am going to do what the radical left of my party wants me to do,” Scott said.
Joe Biden and the radical Left have trapped kids in failing schools.
Every kid in America deserves a quality education regardless of his or her zip code. pic.twitter.com/0NAu1ZY0AV
— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) May 17, 2023
He also shared his vision for the country which leaned heavily into culture war issues including education, and the Critical Race Theory (CRT). Throughout his tenure as a senator, Scott was championed for having conservative ideals while being open about race and his experiences as a Black man in America.
Scott is the only Black Republican in the United States Senate.
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