On Monday, The Wall Street Journal — citing people familiar with the matter — reported that South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, is planning to enter the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Scott has become well-known among Republicans ever since his praised official party response to Pres. Biden's first address to Congress in 2021, which saw him proclaim that "America is not a racist country."
Scott is a breath of fresh air in American politics, combining substance and attitude that evokes former Pres. Ronald Reagan's sense of can-do in a humble yet optimistic way. If he does decide to run for president, however, he must be prepared for a steep road to the White House, in which he certainly will face unscrupulous and even fabricated claims against him.
Scott is among potential candidates that should consider not running for the 2024 Republican ticket to prevent Trump from winning this nomination. A crowded field can only serve the former US president's interests as it would fragment the anti-Trump conservative camp, allowing the roughly 30 percent die-hard Trumpists to form a majority in the primaries.