Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) officially announced his run for the presidency on Monday, May 22.
Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, Scott joins GOP candidates including former President Donald Trump, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and talk radio host Larry Elder, who are all vying for the primary to take on President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
But Scott has been heavily and harshly criticized by African American democrats and republicans for his conservative leanings and sometimes almost indefensible position and statements on racism in America.
In delivering the official Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address in 2021, Scott said: “Hear me clearly, America is not a racist country.” The South Carolina senator went on to say “It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. And it’s wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates.”
Scott, (56) is an 11-year veteran of Congress, whose comments on race are particularly disturbing and his position on the issue seem incongruous given the fact his personal story of being raised by a single mother and growing up in poverty separate him from his colleagues and the fray of presidential contenders who are from affluent and priviledged backgrounds.
