(Radio Iowa) – South Carolina Tim Scott has formed a presidential campaign exploratory committee — the last step before declaring he’s a candidate for the White House. He’ll be in Cedar Rapids later today (Wednesday). Scott, the only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, was in Iowa earlier this year, on what he called a listening tour. Scott released a video this (Wednesday) morning and it begins by noting this is the day the first shots were fired in the Civil War.

Senator Tim (Rep.) from South Carolina.

“Today our country is once again being tested, once again our divisions run deep and the threat to our future is real,” Scott says. In the video, Scott says Democrats are pursing a liberal agenda and promoting a culture of grievance in America. Scott has made frequent visits to Iowa, dating back to 2014, shortly after he was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Nikki Haley, who was South Carolina’s governor at the time. Haley kicked off her own bid for president early this year and is campaigning in Des Moines this (Wednesday) morning.

She spoke at events in western Iowa on Monday and Tuesday.