Tim Scott: Republican senator who gave rebuttal speech to Biden

As is the tradition, President Joe Biden's speech to the joint session of Congress was followed by a rebuttal speech from the opposing party. This year, the Republicans chose Senator Tim Scott - the party's only African-American senator - to deliver the response. So what more do we know of Senator Scott?

In his own words, Tim Scott grew up "in a poor, single parent household" in North Charleston, South Carolina, to a mother who worked long hours as a nursing assistant.

As a schoolboy, his future looked "murky at best" and would certainly not have included being senator of South Carolina for nearly a decade and being talked of as a possible presidential contender in 2024.

But it is a sign of how his star is rising in the Republican Party that he was handpicked to deliver what was his most high-profile speech since addressing the Republican National Congress last year.

If he felt nervous beforehand, he wasn't showing it, telling reporters of his preparation: "You figure out who your audience is, you figure out what you want to say and you try and find a way to say it well. And you lean in to who you are."

Tim Scott, 55, thanks a "mom who stuck with him" and a "mentor that showed him the wisdom of conservative principles" as well as his own determination for getting him through college, starting his own insurance and real estate business and eventually making the move into public service.

He worked his way through county and state politics before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2010.

In 2013, he was appointed to the Senate by then South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley following the resignation of incumbent senator Jim DeMint, and then easily won elections in 2014 and 2016.

During his eight years in the Senate, Mr Scott has proved willing to address racial issues while also pushing conservative causes.

• Scott among rising stars of a post-Trump Republican party

Observers say some of his most powerful speeches to the Senate have been when describing his own experiences of racism and law enforcement, including being stopped 18 times while driving and being racially profiled by Capitol Hill staff.

"While I thank God I have not endured bodily harm, I have, however, felt the pressure applied by the scales of justice when they are slanted," he said in 2016. "I have felt the anger, the frustration, the sadness and the humiliation that comes with feeling like you are being targeted for nothing more than just being yourself."

In his rebuttal on Wednesday, he brought up his experiences of racism again.

"I have experienced the pain of discrimination. I know what it feels like to be pulled over for no reason, to be followed around a store while I'm shopping," he said.

But he also said that the US "is not a racist country", saying that race "is not a political weapon to settle every issue the way one side wants".

He has pushed back hard on those who have suggested being in the Republican Party sits at odds with being an African-American, and has won praise for how he navigated the turbulent years of President Trump.

He criticised Donald Trump for failing to condemn fatal racist violence in Charlottesville in 2017, saying his "moral authority" had been compromised. He also said the president had been "racially offensive" when he told a group of Democratic congresswomen to go back to their countries of origin.

However, he backed Mr Trump's Supreme Court nominees and the failed bid to repeal Obamacare, and refused to blame the former president for the January 6 riots on the Capitol, saying he's the "one person I don't blame".

Tellingly, Mr Trump recently backed Mr Scott for re-election next year, calling him an "outstanding senator and a person who works tirelessly for the people of his great state and the USA".

Senator Scott has tried before to introduce legislation to reform the police, and is now the Republican Party's lead negotiator on bipartisan efforts to overhaul policing practices.

And, after years of bitter and deeply divided partisanship in Congress, there is cautious optimism that Mr Scott and his Democratic counterparts, Senator Cory Booker and Representative Karen Bass, might be able to find common ground on a policing bill that could pass the narrowly divided US Senate.

Mr Scott has described his relationship with his fellow negotiators as "very healthy".

"That does not mean we all agree," he said, "but the good news I think we trust each other enough to actually make progress on substantive issues where there is disagreement."

Meanwhile, Senator Booker has described Senator Scott as a "friend and an honest broker".

"I have a lot of faith in him. I believe we're in a historical moment. History has its eyes on us. And there's an urgency in our country, and may we both rise in this Senate negotiation to get something substantive and meaningful done."