Tim Scott moves toward launching 2024 White House run

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) took a giant step toward entering the 2024 Republican presidential race Wednesday, launching an exploratory committee — as a new poll shows his potential bid falling flat among GOP voters in his home state.

In a video announcement filmed at Fort Sumter, SC, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, Scott accused President Biden and his fellow Democrats of trying to divide Americans once again.

“Joe Biden and the radical left have chosen a culture of grievance over greatness,” Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, said in the video.

“They’re promoting victimhood instead of personal responsibility. And they’re indoctrinating our children to believe we live in an evil country,” the 57-year-old added.

“And all too often, when they get called out for their failures, they weaponize race to divide us, to hold on to their power.”

Scott, who was raised by a single mother who worked 16-hour days as a nurse’s assistant, countered in his pitch that “America is the land of opportunity, not a land of oppression.”

“I know it because I’ve lived it,” he said, accusing Democrats of “attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb” out of poverty.

If Scott formally enters the 2024 race, he would join a GOP field that includes former President Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — who appointed then-Congressman Scott to the Senate in 2012 to replace the retiring Jim DeMint.

The senator, who was easily elected to a second full term this past November, made the announcement ahead of a planned stop in Iowa, the 2024 race’s first Republican caucus state.

“I have found that people are starving for hope,” Scott told “Fox & Friends.” “They are starving for an optimistic, positive message that is anchored in conservative values.”

Scott’s swing through the early voting states continues Thursday, when he visits New Hampshire and concludes Friday with a stop in South Carolina.

The senator may want to put in face time with as many home-state voters as possible.

A Winthrop University poll of registered South Carolina Republicans found that just 7% would be likely to support Scott for the nomination.

The poll showed Trump leading the field with 41% support, followed by the yet-to-declare Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (20%), Haley (18%) and Scott.

Former Vice President Mike Pence got 5% support in the poll, with 4% saying they had no opinion on the race and 2% backing former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The poll showed 47% of South Carolinians approve of Scott’s work as the state’s junior senator, while 25% disapprove and 28% were not sure of their opinion or refused to answer.

State residents gave Haley higher marks, with a 53% approval rating and just 30% having an unfavorable opinion.

Scott’s exploratory committee can accept donor money for his anticipated 2024 run and cover expenses for polling and visits to primary states before he formally files his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.