After President Biden delivered his first joint address to Congress on Wednesday night, the task of countering the president’s vision rests with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Scott, 55, offers a kind of unapologetic conservatism that has helped him rise from a seat on Charleston County Council to national notoriety in the Republican Party.
More than a decade ago, Mr Scott raised his profile as a vocal critic of the Obama administration and brought a wave of tea party support to Washington, winning a seat in the House of Representatives in 2010 and endearing himself to conservative groups with a strong little government philosophy .
As the only black Republican in the Senate, Mr. Scott has also become a pioneer within his party breaking a number of historical barriers and rising in an environment that was often hostile to black politicians.
In the primary election for his first House campaign, Mr. Scott defeated Paul Thurmond, the son of former Senator Strom Thurmond, who for years helped lead the Republican Party’s resistance to racial integration. And in 2013, when then-Gov. Nikki Haley appointed Mr. Scott to fill a position left by former Senator James DeMint. He entered the Senate as the first black politician since the reconstruction to represent a southern state.
Mr Scott was tapped by Republican leaders – Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California – to provide the counter-argument at a time when the GOP was keen to increase its support for people of color. And during his years in the Senate, Mr. Scott has often advised colleagues on racial issues.
More recently, as the debate about police brutality has intensified, Mr Scott has had his own candid experience in the Senate of police profiling against racism. He has also positioned himself as an informed voice on the challenges of working families, referring to his early years growing up poor with a single working mother.
While many of the policy proposals Mr Biden is due to discuss Wednesday have met with stiff opposition from Republicans, Mr Scott has stated that he does not intend his rebuttal to constitute an excoriation of the President’s agenda similar to the highly charged rhetoric that has become common on Capitol Hill.
“We face serious challenges on several fronts, but I am more confident than ever about America’s promise and potential,” said Scott in a statement anticipating his remarks. “I look forward to having an honest conversation with the American people and sharing the Republicans’ optimistic vision of expanding opportunities and empowering working families.”
