Sen. Tim Scott is hitting back against the racist responses from some Democrats to his rebuttal to President Biden’s first address — blasting the left for having “nothing to do with ending prejudice.”
Speaking to Fox News’ “Hannity” Thursday evening, Scott (R-SC) described it as “saddening to see” the kind of backlash he faced as a black man for saying in his address to the nation that “America is not a racist country.”
“The left has lost their mind today. It’s really saddening to see. What the left is doing is fighting bigotry with bigotry, and they’ve exposed their hypocrisy and their true motivation,” he continued, noting that those incentives have “nothing to do with ending prejudice.”
Scott’s speech to the nation came late Wednesday.
By Thursday morning, the term “Uncle Tim” was seen trending on Twitter, a reference to the slur “Uncle Tom,” which describes a black person who is obsequious to white people.
It took the social media platform 12 hours to take the term down from its “Trending” section.
“Uncle Tim” began to trend on Twitter late Wednesday after Scott noted in his speech that he has been the subject of derogatory comments about his race because of his political views.
It wasn’t until 10 a.m. Thursday that the social media behemoth stopped the attacks from appearing in its Trends.
Reached for comment, Twitter said the term was eventually taken down for violating the company’s policies.
“We are blocking the phrase you referenced from appearing in Trends,” a Twitter spokesman told The Post.
“This is in line with our policies on Trends, specifically: ‘We want Trends to promote healthy conversations on Twitter. This means that at times, we may not allow or may temporarily prevent content from appearing in Trends until more context is available. This includes Trends that violate The Twitter Rules.'”
The South Carolina senator, whose name has been thrown around as a 2024 presidential contender, called it “really disheartening to see the left’s response and frankly, even Twitter’s response to racism and racial slurs.”
“If it comes from the left it must be okay, according to Twitter’s response 12 hours later,” he continued.
“I wish the Democrats — who always feign or virtue signal — would take a look in the mirror and ask themselves: would they put up with that from anyone other than themselves? And if you won’t police yourselves, don’t look at the other side.”
Asked what he thought of the longterm consequences of such racially motivated attacks for political gain, Scott said he believed Democrats’ handling of the attacks against him would fuel a “backlash.”
“Maybe they don’t realize it,” the sole GOP senator of color noted, “but at some point, people get sick and tired of being sick and tired, and they start reacting as opposed to responding to the criticism and the negativity.”
“There’s a coming backlash to this liberal oppression that is becoming front and center, and they’re not even hiding their hands anymore,” he said.
Scott went on to express pride in who he is and how he identifies before again calling out the hypocrisy of those going after him.
“The truth of the matter is, the hypocrisy needs to stop. I am a black man, I am proud to be black. I happen to be a conservative because I came to the conclusion a long time ago that conservative policies and principles is the way that we set people free, free to be whoever they want to be.”
“You actually are free to disagree with me, that’s the beauty of America, and what Democrats are selling is that you are not free to be yourself.”
During his Wednesday night address, Scott discussed his conservative values, crediting much of who he is to a Chick-fil-A store operator named John Moniz, whom he met as a young man.
Scott “attributes a lot of who he is” to Moniz, his press secretary said Thursday.
“John taught him biblical principles and conservative values, and over the course of [three to four] years, he transformed his way of thinking. John’s life’s goal was to positively affect a million people. Tim’s life’s mission is to positively affect a billion people with the message of hope and opportunity,” Scott spokesman Ken Farnaso told Fox News.
Asked about Scott’s claim during an interview with NBC News Friday that the US was not a racist country, Biden appeared to agree — but added that the “overhang from all of the Jim Crow and before that, slavery,” has put black Americans “in a position where they are so far behind the eight ball.”
“I don’t think the American people are racist. But I think after 400 years, African Americans have been left in a position where they are so far behind the eight ball in terms of education and health, in terms of opportunity. I don’t think America’s racist, but I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow and before that, slavery, have had a cost and we have to deal with it,” the commander-in-chief replied.
