‘A Great Speech for 1996’: CNN Guest Pans Tim Scott’s Campaign Launch Seconds After It Airs

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) launched his presidential campaign Monday with a speech full of optimism — a message that drew an immediate skeptical reaction from a CNN guest.

Scott’s speech made multiple references to his personal story, his family’s journey from poverty to him serving in the Senate, saying that it proved America was not a racist country but a place where opportunities still existed “for a broken kid, in a broken home, to rise beyond their circumstances.”

CNN reporter Eva McKend reported live from North Charleston, South Carolina, summarized the speech as portraying America as “a country of optimism and opportunity, not oppression,” and noted that he “really wanted to seem to have his eyes towards a general election,” criticizing President Joe Biden but “not so much focused on his Republican rivals.”

Scott was “really focusing on his personal biography, inspiration and reticent to do a lot of mud slinging” against other Republicans, said McKend,” making “no real references” to former President Donald Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

John King introduced the panel, noting that Trump was “the far away front runner” for the GOP nomination, and Scott’s speech was a contrast to the ex-president’s message by being “optimistic” and “upbeat.”

“It’s conservatism but as Senator Scott noted at the end, he wants have a compassionate conservatism,” said King. “The question is, does that Republican party still exist? That’s the test.”

“I don’t think it really does,” replied NPR host Ayesha Rascoe. “I think that was a great speech for 1996. I don’t know that that speaks to 2023.”

“And I do think that it’s very interesting — and he’s doing what the other Republican candidates other than Trump have been doing, is they’re focusing on the left and all these things — but their path to getting the nomination goes through Trump,” she added. “And until you go through him, and until we really see what that looks like, it just — I don’t know what is the path. You have to go through Trump to get there.”

“And he has avoided for some time going after Trump,” said CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju, saying that Scott “sidesteps the question” about Trump and “makes subtle reference to being not part of victimhood politics, not being part of grievance politics.”

Raju added that Scott did have the endorsement of Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the minority whip and second most powerful Republican in the Senate, and “other Senate Republicans I’ve talked to believe that he is their candidate.”

Scott will “have a ton of money,” said Raju, “but does that translate to Iowa and New Hampshire with the Republican base, Trump-loving base? That’s the question.”

King said that was a great point, and agreed that one advantage Scott has is that “his colleagues like him, love him, think he’s a powerful messenger for conservative values,” but it remained to be seen how well he would compete with Trump in the early primary states — including his home state of South Carolina, where former Gov. Nikki Haley was already in the race.

Watch above via CNN.