Tim Scott sets May 22 announcement for 2024 presidential bid

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) signaled Sunday that he would formally announce his 2024 presidential bid on May 22, following months of speculation prompted by early primary state travels and a recently launched exploratory committee.

Scott teased a “major announcement” he planned to make at an upcoming campaign event in North Charleston, South Carolina, where the 57-year-old senator grew up, while speaking to a crowd of about 150 people in nearby Charleston on Sunday. The senator has been traveling across Iowa, New Hampshire, and his native South Carolina since February as he mulled a run, and was vocal about the positive response he was getting.

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“It is time to take the Faith in America tour not just on the road, not just to an exploratory committee,” Scott said Sunday while teasing his plans. “It is time to make a final step. We are going to have a major announcement. You are going to want to be there.”

Sources familiar with Scott’s plans had said in recent days that his goal was to officially launch his campaign by the end of May.

By making it official, Scott will enter a filed that continues to be dominated by former President Donald Trump. Scott is far from the only member of the Senate with presidential ambitions, though many members on both sides of the aisle opted not to run this cycle as Trump and President Joe Biden maintain steady leads with their respective primary electorates. Still, Scott is not entering a two-man race against the former president.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has yet to declare his candidacy but is expected to launch an exploratory committee in the coming months. Despite being beset by plummeting poll numbers since Trump’s Manhattan indictment in late March, DeSantis has maintained his status as the former president’s top competitor.

Former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), who appointed Scott to his Senate seat in 2012 after he won a competitive 2010 Congressional contest, is also in the race. She launched her bid in February, as Scott’s early primary state travel itinerary was prompting speculation of his own 2024 plans. Scott and Haley are political allies who have thus far avoided trading barbs in the 2024 contest.

Other declared candidates include former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), biotech entrepeneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and conservative talk radio host Larry Edler.

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Scott enters the campaign with a compelling personal story to tell. The child of a single mother who lived with his grandparents in poverty, Scott persevered through decades of adversity. He nearly failed out of high school before finding mentors who guided him on a new path, which included going to college, starting an insurance agency, and eventually running for elected office.

He is the only black Republican in the Senate, and will be the highest-ranking black official to have ever sought the presidency if he chooses to run.