Facts about Tim Scott

"I think it's very clear that the American people are frustrated with this move toward socialism. And so whether you're back or white, if you believe that the conservative construct is in the best interest of our future, than you too would be voting with Republicans, and if you had the opportunity to run you'd join us as well"

"I don't necessarily believe there's a message in the fact that I'm an African-American Republican. I think there is a message that America as a whole, we are now awake. We are looking at a political construct and we're fairly disappointed. I think the message is no matter where you come from in this country, there is great potential"

"We need the private sector to create jobs. If the government could create jobs Communism would have worked, but it didn't"

"There are good people and bad people in all organizations fundamentally however, when you look at the basis of the Tea Party it has nothing to do with race. It has to do with an economic recovery. It has to do with limiting the role of our government in our lives. It has to do with free markets"

"If you look at the fact that the best chance we have for a good economy is the private sector. The government cannot create jobs. If the government could create jobs, then Communism would have worked. But didn't work. So what we have to do is allow the private sector and the entrepreneurial spirit to lead us back to a job-filled recovery"

"And the Tea Party represents many of us who believe that we are taxed enough already. We believe in free markets"

"I think you hear, at least as an undertone, and it's going to grow louder, is that we believe that capitalism is the mantra of the day and anything that creeps towards socialism is a problem"

"But the question we should ask ourselves is, who is the next visionary leader of America? How do we have the aspiration and inspire Americans to reach their highest level? We need a president that does so"

"As I have traveled throughout my Congressional district, the one thing I heard loud and clear was simply please stop spending money you do not have, rein in spending, live within a budget"

"We have to attack those things which stand in the way of America progress. And what stands in the way of American progress right now is the federal government"

"I see myself as a person who wants to serve the constituents within my district and find a way to move those who are not in our position philosophically to our position"

"Certainly I feel like I'm the tip of the arrow at times because certainly the national media wants to talk about the fact that I'm a black Republican and some people think of that as zany that a black person would be a conservative but to me what is zany is any person black, white, red, brown or yellow not being a conservative"

"Our position should not be on how to eliminate the competition at all expenses, but we should focus on what we're going to do in order to make sure that Americans turn to the road of prosperity with the trajectory of capitalism, because making a profit is not an evil"

"I think the question is who am I? That's what we all should be asking ourselves. Who am I? Well, if I am first a Christian conservative then that dictates my response to all questions so my response first as a Christian conservative is to vote consistent with my value system"

"There is nothing special about Tim Scott. I'm an ordinary guy serving an extraordinary God and that makes the difference"

"If our message reaches the kitchen tables, we are in good shape"

"I'm not looking to be dominating all the media outlets ... to talk about any issue just to be on TV, I'm not your guy. I'm not going to be 'the black Republican'. I'm going to be a Republican who happens to be black who will talk about issues that I'm passionate about that are specific to the agenda that I want to accomplish"

"We do not have a revenue problem in D.C. or this county. We have a prioritization problem. When you create the priorities you fund the priorities of the country and you stop spending money when you get to zero"