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OAN’s Brooke Mallory
4:16 PM – Monday, May 22, 2023
Senator Tim Scott announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Monday.
Former President Trump took to the occasion to congratulate Scott (R-S.C.) and disparage Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), who is thought to be Trump’s most likely rival.
“Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable.”
Trump also mentioned that he and Scott had collaborated to create opportunity zones, a financial incentive that was part of the 2017 tax reform legislation, which was approved by Republicans and signed by Trump himself.
Scott officially began his presidential campaign on Monday in his home state of South Carolina, making him the first senator to enter the race. His biography, which he has said represents the “American dream,” took up a significant portion of his address. Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate.
Trump has not charged the South Carolina presidential hopeful, instead choosing to concentrate on DeSantis, who is trailing Trump in the majority of national polls and surveys.
Later this week, the Florida governor is also anticipated to officially announce his bid for the 2024 presidential nomination. DeSantis’s campaign has claimed that Trump’s repeated criticisms of him before his entry into the race are evidence of the governor’s strength.
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