South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott becomes latest Republican to launch presidential campaign

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Another hat in the ring as the presidential race starts to take shape.

  South Carolina Senator Tim Scott announced today that he will be vying for the Republican nomination. He joins several other candidates seeking to be the name at the top of the ticket come 2024.

  Lisa Desjardins is back with this report.

  Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Presidential Candidate: And I'm running for president of the United States of America!

  (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Rallying up a crowd in his home state of South Carolina, Senator Tim Scott announced his 2024 run with an optimistic message.

• Sen. Tim Scott:

  For those of you who wonder if it's possible for a broken kid and a broken home to rise beyond their circumstances, the answer is yes.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  His rise to this moment is something Scott calls quintessentially American. Raised by a single mom in North Charleston, the family struggled for money. By high school, Scott says he was failing in several classes, when a business mentor changed his life.

• Sen. Tim Scott:

  He taught me how to think my way out of poverty.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  He became a leader, chosen to represent his school at South Carolina's Boys State. By age 30, Scott was a small businessman with a seat on the Charleston County Council.

• Sen. Tim Scott:

  I'm living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not a land of oppression.

  (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

• Lisa Desjardins:

  He is a stern critic of government programs for the poor. Scott's approach instead is tax incentives called Opportunity Zones for businesses to invest in low-income areas.

  A video from his office touted some of the results in South Los Angeles. But others, including one study this year, say the zones have been ineffective or extraordinarily expensive. For Scott, opportunity is the central theme and indeed in the title of his 2020 book.

  When it comes to race and opportunity, Scott occupies a unique place as one of the few Black Americans ever elected to the U.S. Senate and the only Black Republican this century. He has mixed his personal experience…

• Sen. Tim Scott:

  In the course of one year, I have been stopped seven times by law enforcement officers.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  … with a conservative approach. Police reform talks ended because he opposed many ideas aimed at law enforcement.

  In 2021, as President Biden gave his first speech to Congress, Republicans chose Scott to give their response and one line hit a flash point.

• Sen. Tim Scott:

  Hear me clearly. America is not a racist country.

  They're promoting victimhood.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  In his opening ad this year, Scott leaned in, speaking from Fort Sumter, where the Civil War started, blasting Democrats.

• Sen. Tim Scott:

  And all too often, when they get called out for their failures, they weaponize race to divide us.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Scott's campaigning focuses on personal retail politics, but he hasn't faced a tough race in over a decade and had trouble when asked about abortion and at which week of pregnancy he would back a national ban.

• Sen. Tim Scott:

  I'm not going to talk about six or five or seven or 10. I'm just saying that whatever the most conservative legislation is that could come through Congress…

• QUESTION:

  Is what you would say?

• Sen. Tim Scott:

  Yes.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  He later said he would sign a 20-week ban.

  Scott argues his experience, especially as a kid rising out of poverty, sets him apart. The man who focuses on opportunity is looking for a big one of his own.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.