Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott visits Chicago's South Side

CHICAGO - Project HOOD is inviting all 2024 presidential candidates to see them on the South Side, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott was the first to accept.

Pastor Corey Brooks, known for staying on a rooftop to raise funds for Project HOOD's Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center, took Scott on a tour of Woodlawn and the construction site of that center.

Senator Scott blamed far-left policies for problems that cities like Chicago are facing and said conservative principles can solve them.

"The far left has spent decades getting soft on crime, defending failing schools, undermining traditional values, and weakening capitalism. And you can measure that. In the devastation we just talked about. You measure it in crime, I said that. Unemployment. I said that. But most importantly in despair," Scott said.

Pastor Brooks said the biggest problem facing Black America is education.

In Iowa, which votes first in the Republican primary, recent polls have Scott trailing former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy. Nationally, polls have him at just 2% among GOP voters.