Will he run? Here’s when SC Sen. Tim Scott will announce his 2024 presidential plans

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott plans to announce on May 22 whether he’ll run for president, he told a Charleston crowd Sunday.

Scott, who on April 12 launched an exploratory committee on whether to run for president, has been visiting the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as part of his Faith in America tour, ahead of an expected run for the White House.

“It is time to take the Faith in America tour not just on the road, not just to an exploratory committee,” the South Carolina Republican told the crowd of about 150 people, a comment which received a standing ovation. “It is time to make a final step. We are going to have a major announcement. You are going to want to be there.”

If Scott ultimately jumps in, he’ll join a field that includes former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Scott has been trailing in the polls of potential and declared Republican candidates for the White House.

A poll of Republicans around the country showed Scott was at 2%, trailing Trump at 47%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 33%, former Vice President Mike Pence at 5% and Haley at 4%, according to a March Quinnipiac University Poll.

Scott is doing better within his home state, according to a Winthrop University poll. Scott was at 7% among South Carolinians, who hold the South’s first presidential primary next year.

The poll, released April 12, found 41% of South Carolina Republicans are backing Trump. DeSantis and Haley were nearly tied for second at 20% and 18%, respectively.

But those in the crowd were ecstatic about his potential run.

“I think about that old proverb, about how it takes a village. This is the village of South Carolina and now we’re going to play a part in whatever he does and whatever the future holds for him. We couldn’t be more excited,” said Mikee Johnson, who is serving as Scott’s national finance co-chair. “We’re going to play a part in whatever he does. He’s been serving us and our nation dutifully, passing legislation, working with both sides, which is not common in today’s world. I think there’s a hunger for somebody or some person to do it differently.”

During the hour-long town hall, Scott repeated some of his traditional lines such as the need for school choice.

“We need school choice in the hands of every single parent in the nation. If the parents have a choice, the kids have a chance,” Scott said inside of the Meeting Street Academy, a charter school in Charleston.

Scott also criticized the Biden Administration’s handling of the southern border.

“If we want to create a blueprint of how to ruin America, leave our borders insecure,” Scott said.

During his remarks, Scott was talking like a White House candidate as he went after President Joe Biden, who announced he would be seeking reelection.

“I honestly think the liberal left (and) Biden team fears an African American conservative Republican about as much as everything else,” said Scott, the U.S. Senate’s only Black Republican. “My life disproves their lies.”