Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is poised to criticize President Joe Biden as leading the country into "retreat" as he officially launches his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination with an optimistic message about the country's future.
"Our nation, our values, and our people are strong. But our president is weak. America is not a nation in decline. But under Joe Biden, we have become a nation in retreat," Scott will say Monday in his hometown of North Charleston, South Carolina, according to excerpts shared with the Washington Examiner. "Retreating from our heritage and our history. Retreating from personal responsibility and hard work. Retreating from strength and security. Even retreating from religious liberty and the worship of God himself."
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"They say opportunity in America is a myth and faith in America is a fraud. But the truth of my life disproves their lies," the senator will add. "We are not in decline. We're in a Biden retreat."
Scott's campaign pitch as the only black Republican in the Senate, made at his alma mater Charleston Southern University, is inextricably linked to his personal story, the son of a single working mother and the grandson of a cotton picker, and the idea of personal responsibility.
"This is the freest and fairest land. Where you and I can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take us. I bear witness to that. I testify to that. That’s why I’m the candidate the far Left fears the most," he will say. "When I cut your taxes, they called me a prop. When I re-funded the police, they called me a token. When I pushed back on President Biden, they even called me the N-word. I disrupt their narrative. I threaten their control. The truth of my life disproves their lies."
"Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing," he will go on. "Victimhood or victory? Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom and hope and opportunity."
Scott embarks on his presidential bid with an enviable $22 million cash on hand thanks to his Senate reelection campaign last year. He also has the endorsement of Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's second in command, after being backed by Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) last week.
Scott is scheduled to travel Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday and Merrimack, New Hampshire, on Thursday, with his campaign already spending $6 million in ads on television and radio in those early voting states.
Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, who is also from South Carolina, charged Scott with aspiring "to govern from the ‘far, conservative right’ as a proud member of the Tea Party, and his extreme record proves it."
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"Even before he refused to name a policy difference with Trump, Scott was a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda — supporting national abortion bans and championing plans to end Medicare and Social Security as we know them," Harrison said. "As an ‘architect’ of Trump’s tax law, Scott gifted corporations billions and has been a longtime champion of rolling back regulations on big banks."
“There’s no question that special interests are celebrating as Tim Scott throws his hat into the 2024 race for the MAGA base," he added.