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Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is focused increasingly on one of the things that separates him from the rest of the 2024 GOP presidential field — his race.
The sole Black candidate running for the Republican nomination, Mr. Scott has hardened his message in recent days, saying his life story and willingness to fight for conservative causes threatens the radical left so much that they’ve resorted to calling him racial slurs.
“All the Republicans running for president talk tough about fighting the radical Left. But I have the battle scars,” Mr. Scott, 58, says in a new television ad that started airing Wednesday in Iowa. “When I fought to re-fund our police, liberals called me a token.”
“When I cut your taxes, they called me a prop,” he says. “And when I pushed back on Biden’s socialist agenda, they even called me the N-word.”
The new “Battle Scars” ad comes as the Scott campaign shifts more of its resources to Iowa in the hopes that a strong performance there in the Jan. 15 caucuses will vault him into the top tier of contenders ahead of the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire.
Mr. Scott is the top pick of 6% of Iowa caucus-goers, according to polling averages. That puts him in a statistical tie with political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy, and more than 30 points behind former President Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner.
Mr. Scott thrust the issue of race back to the forefront of his campaign earlier this week as he looks to show voters another side of his political makeup, after building a reputation on Capitol Hill as a voice of optimism in an often polarized Washington D.C.
Delivering a speech in the South Side of Chicago, Mr. Scott this week blamed the policies of the “radical left” for the poor schools, rising crime, and deepening despair that has gripped Black communities in Democrat-run cities across the nation.
“They are choosing their own power over the prosperity of our community,” Mr. Scott said of liberal elites at New Beginnings Church. “They choose power over the safety on our streets. They choose power over good jobs, great schools, and drug-free neighborhoods.”
“But it gets even worse than that,” he said. “To stop people from noticing the devastation, they try to get people addicted to the drug of victimhood that comes with despair.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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