Senator Tim Scott is now the youngest Republican to join the increasingly tight 2024 U.S. presidential race.
Scott, 57, who has been in the South Carolina legislature since 2013, has vowed to revitalize America’s “culture of greatness.”
With around US$22m (roughly £18m) in cash, he will go into battle with more campaign money than any of his rivals.
Former President Donald Trump is now the absolute frontrunner for the party nomination among Republicans.
At his launch event in his hometown of North Charleston on Monday, Scott, who is black, described his career as the grandson of a Deep South cotton farmer and U.S. Senator to the American Dream. It was advertised as embodied. He recounted being raised by a single mother and how the family progressed “from cotton to parliament” during his grandfather’s lifetime.
Scott has often spoken out about his experiences as a black man in America, from being stopped by police seven times in one year to being arrested in the Capitol.
But in his campaign opening speech, he rejected the notion that the nation is defined by racism.
Scott is one of three incumbent black senators in the 100-member Senate. Democrats have two. The soft-spoken congressman is a total bachelor and already has the backing of two senators, including John Tune, the second-most senior Republican in Congress.
Scott is due to visit Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to hold Republican primary elections, later this week.
He’s also already filed papers for his presidential nomination with the Federal Election Commission, securing $6 million in airtime in both states. This is the largest single ad purchase to date for the 2024 race.
Polls show Mr. Trump well ahead of his rivals, and Mr. Scott’s approval rating at less than 5%.
The South Carolina native’s campaign is expected to focus on more forward-looking, less populist conservatism, but he said he has few political differences with the former president.
He was a major supporter of Trump’s Senate tax cuts in 2017 and said he was “very grateful” for his White House tenure.
