(NewsNation) — South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott addressed voters at Chicago’s New Beginnings Church as part of his ongoing 2024 campaign push through Iowa and the Midwest.
Touting his career, Scott argued Democrats have failed the city on crime, broken homes and broken families, saying Chicago has “tried every single thing the radical left demanded.”
Scott repeatedly criticized the “far left,” saying it has created a system of broken Black families.
He spoke about his family’s struggle living in segregated South Carolina.
“[My mother] refused to let what was around her in her,” Scott said. “America is the land of opportunity, not a land of oppression.”
The church where Scott spoke is located in Chicago’s O Block, once considered the most dangerous neighborhood in Chicago. Now, the neighborhood is under intense efforts to rehabilitate it.
The pastor of the church issued an open invitation for all the presidential candidates to come and see the progress for themselves, but Scott was the first to accept the invitation.
“I do think that if you want to be the president, United States, you should go where there are people, not just for the Republicans, not where you can just pick up votes, you should be willing to fight for your message, even in places where you’re not necessarily invited. And that includes us, outside of Chicago,” Scott said in an exclusive interview with NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello.
Scott also discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, saying he would have acted faster than President Biden.
“That formula is a formula for disaster. As President, as I said the Saturday of the attack, send the Sixth Fleet in,” Scott told NewsNation. “But everything that we’ve seen, I would have done. Days later they catch up. Lead from the start. That’s what we needed, a president, we need a commander in chief that will lead.”
So far, Scott has struggled to differentiate himself from his GOP competitors lately, with his poll numbers plummeting.
Visiting dangerous and often overlooked neighborhoods may help him get his name back out there in a positive way as the senator needs all the help he can get to bolster his campaign.
Scott is well behind his Republican competitors, pulling in less than 2% of the Republican vote, according to the average polling data from Real Clear Politics.
He has also not qualified for the third presidential debate, scheduled for November, but members of his campaign team say they are confident he will reach the threshold requirements by then.
As the primary season draws closer, there has been intense scrutiny and speculation about the likelihood Scott remains in the race.
Meanwhile, Scott’s South Carolina competitor, Nikki Haley, is on the rise in the latest polling, with many saying she could be the greatest threat to the GOP front-runner, former President Donald Trump.