U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has decided to make a run at the U.S. presidency in 2024.
This was expected. But, Scott made it official, according to Axios, by filing the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, May 19.
Scott, though, has yet to make the official announcement.
Outlets are reporting that Scott is set to make that announcement, launching his presidential bid, on Monday. He is expected to do so at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, which is a private Baptist school.
The 57-year-old Scott had previously launched an exploratory committee, and, since that time, he has been making trips to key primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
Scott has already purchased $6 million worth of advertisements, and some of those advertisements are set to start airing on televisions in Iowa and New Hampshire this upcoming week.
Axios reports:
Scott will argue that he is the most consistently conservative candidate and that his personal story — growing up in a poor, single-parent household — will resonate as he advocates for various policy issues, according to a senior campaign official.
The outlet goes on to state that Scott has been "positioning himself as a more hopeful alternative than Trump’s grievance-driven campaign or DeSantis’ war on "woke."
This, in part, is how Scott is going to attempt to distinguish himself from what is quickly becoming a crowded Republican field.
The Republican 2024 field already includes former President Donald Trump, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is expected to join the field soon, as is former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and others.
Polling has made it abundantly clear that Trump is the Republicans' top candidate - and it is not even close. Real Clear Politics has Trump with a 36.9 percentage point lead, on average, over his next closest rival - DeSantis. Scott comes in at 1.8%.
Accordingly, at the moment, it is hard to imagine anyone topping Trump, let alone someone sitting at 1%.
Scott is already being targeted by his Republican rivals.
Trump, on Friday, posted to Truth Social a link to an old Post and Courier article, titled, "SC's Tim Scott says 'of course' he'll support Trump if he runs again in 2024." This may suggest that Trump sees Scott's decision to run against him for the Republicans' 2020 nomination as a sign of disloyalty, which, if true, may make Scott Trump's latest target.
