Senator Tim Scott has become the latest Republican to join an increasingly crowded 2024 race for US president.
Mr Scott, 57, who has represented South Carolina in the chamber since 2013, promised to revive America’s “culture of greatness”.
With about $22m (£18m) in cash on hand, he enters the fray with more campaign funds than any of his rivals.
Donald Trump is the front-runner for the nomination, with Mr Scott earning less than 5% in national opinion polls.
At a launch event in his hometown of North Charleston on Monday, Mr Scott, who is black, touted his personal story as an embodiment of the American dream.
The grandson of a Deep South cotton field worker, he spoke of being raised by a single mother and of how his family had risen “from cotton to Congress” in his grandfather’s lifetime.
