U.S. Republican Senator Tim Scott explores possible presidential run

By Gram Slattery and Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. Senator Tim Scott launched a presidential exploratory committee on Wednesday, taking a step toward challenging former President Donald Trump for the party's nomination in 2024.

As the only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, Scott has frequently cited his own experience as the impoverished child of a single mother as proof of America's promise. He has sought to focus on his ability "to disrupt the narrative" of race, while criticizing President Joe Biden and other Democrats on crime, inflation and other issues.

"This fight is personal. I want every American to have the same opportunities I had," Scott said in a Twitter post announcing his plan, adding in a video: "This is personal to me. I will never back down in defense of the conservative values that make America exceptional."

Scott, 57, often stresses the need for political unity and strikes an upbeat tone, in contrast with many other declared or prospective Republican candidates, who have portrayed the United States as a once-great nation in deep decline.

His announcement video was filmed at Fort Sumter off Charleston, South Carolina, where the state militia in 1861 attacked federal troops, starting the Civil War, in which South Carolina and other Southern states fought to defend slavery.

Scott called for the United States to once again overcome its deep political divisions. "America's soul was put to the test," he said. "And we prevailed."

An exploratory committee will allow Scott to raise his national profile and continue fundraising with fewer regulatory limitations than a formal campaign.

The senator on Wednesday will visit Iowa, the lead-off state in the Republican presidential nominating process, before heading to New Hampshire on Thursday and South Carolina on Friday. On Saturday, he will give donors and prominent supporters a "political update," according to an invitation seen by Reuters.

Scott has taken a leading role on police reform efforts and has spoken frequently on racial issues. He often called out Trump over racially charged comments during his presidency and blocked several of Trump's judicial nominees for such reasons while also accusing Democrats of exploiting racial tensions for partisan gain.

Scott has described being a victim of racial prejudice but has insisted, as he put it in a 2021 speech, that "America is not a racist country."

With about 2% support in national polls, Scott has his work cut out for him if he decides to formally launch a campaign. Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not declared a bid but is expected to do so, are the two front-runners by a significant margin.

Scott could benefit from the political calendar because South Carolina is historically the third state to host a Republican nominating contest.

But he will have to compete with another candidate from his home state: Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador who announced her own White House bid in February.

Trump held a campaign event in the state in January to showcase his support there, while DeSantis is due in South Carolina later this month.

Scott has already demonstrated an ability to win the votes of white conservatives who constitute the majority of the Republican electorate.

As a Black conservative, he is a rarity in a country where politics are sharply divided along racial lines. Some 92% of Black voters backed Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, while 55% of white voters backed Trump.

The son of a single mother, Scott says he struggled in school until the owner of a fast-food franchise gave him his first job at age 13 and encouraged him to work and study. Before entering politics, he worked in insurance and real estate.

In the Senate, Scott has a solidly conservative voting record. He was tapped by Republican leaders to develop police reform legislation in 2020, after several high-profile police killings of Black people spurred nationwide protests.

However, bipartisan talks collapsed the following year after Democrats said his proposals were inadequate and he said they were more interested in scoring political points than reaching a compromise.

Other legislative efforts were successful: reducing the severity of some drug-related prison sentences and creating a tax break to encourage investment in low-income neighborhoods.

Scott has also defended Republican efforts to tighten voting laws, which Democrats say are designed to discourage Black participation.

The Republican nominee would likely face Biden, who on Monday told NBC News' "Today" program he planned to seek a second four-year term but was not yet ready to formally announce it. Trump lost his re-election bid to Biden in 2020.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery and Andy Sullivan, additional reporting by Kanishka Singh and Susan Heavey; Editing by Scott Malone, Gerry Doyle, Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)