South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott, a longtime and devoted ally of former President Donald Trump, has thrown his hat into the 2024 presidential ring.
With Trump already declared and the presumptive frontrunner, Scott joins a growing Republican candidate list that includes another Trump ally, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
Ironically, Haley appointed Scott in 2013 to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate after the retirement of Jim DeMint.
The GOP already has a crowded field of candidates, including former tech and finance guru Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Many expect Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to announce his candidacy soon, and former Trump Vice President Mike Pence hasn’t ruled out a run.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, ex-national security advisor John Bolton, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are also said to be weighing a run for the GOP nomination.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the lone Democrat to declare his intention to challenge President Joe Biden.
“Under President Biden, our nation is retreating away from patriotism and faith,” Scott said, announcing his bid.
“Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb. And that is why I am announcing today that I am running for president of the United States of America.”
While Biden remains popular among Black voters, Scott, an African American, has drawn the ire of Blacks and other minorities, with many in the community deriding the senator as ‘Uncle Tim,’ a takeoff of the self-hating Uncle Tom.
“Tim Scott is 2024’s Herschel Walker, just more articulate,” commentator Eddie Smith wrote on Twitter.
There was a side-by-side image of Scott and the made-up cartoon character Mush Mouth with the post.
The phrase ‘Uncle Tim’ regarding Scott has trended several times this year.
“Tim Scott reminding us that even Black Republicans only have that one go-to MLK quote,” MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan wrote on Twitter.
Hasan responded to Scott’s comments that “the color of our skin does not define us.”
