Sen. Tim Scott, the Republican from South Carolina and the GOP’s only Black senator, has just been propelled to the front of the 2024 Republican presidential campaign.
For this you could thank the hard left that is a force within the national Democratic Party. Because the rise of Tim Scott’s presidential fortunes is testament to the loathing from those who do much of the virtue signaling in this country, those who once boasted that they supported tolerance and diversity of viewpoints.
But no longer.
Scott is being told to stay in his lane. Instead he embraces the basic tenets of the Republican Party — smaller government, liberty and opportunity — and isn’t afraid to call out hypocrites in the Democratic Party. He’s now considered a serious contender for the 2024 presidential election, should he jump in, along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In his home run rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s rather boring national address Wednesday night, Scott was anything but boring. It was a partisan speech. They all are. Democrats didn’t like it. Republicans liked it.
But he offered unifying, positive themes. He dared to tell America what many have been desperate to hear, that America is not a racist country.
Scott made strong arguments for real public school choice to counter disastrous policies in public school districts that kept the doors closed for far too long during the pandemic, crushing our most vulnerable children.
And he chastised Democrats for their politics of racial division.
“From colleges to corporations to our culture, people are making money and gaining power by pretending we haven’t made any progress,” Scott said. “By doubling down on the divisions we’ve worked so hard to heal. You know this stuff is wrong.
“Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country. It’s backward to fight discrimination with different discrimination. And it’s wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present.”
He dropped another hammer on the allegedly “tolerant” left. “I get called ‘Uncle Tom’ and the N-word — by ‘progressives.’ By liberals,” he said.
To prove his words, a racist hashtag began trending on Twitter.
Twitter, the social media giant that is quite adept at censoring and banning conservative views, was forced to react. A Twitter spokesperson told Newsweek the platform was “blocking the phase you referenced from appearing in Trends,” a section of Twitter that allows users to see whatever is trending in the moment.
“We want Trends to promote healthy conversations on Twitter,” the spokesperson said. “This means that at times we may not allow or may temporarily prevent content from appearing in Trends until more context is available.”
Americans who support the late Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream — of judging people on the content of their character, not on the color of their skin — are routinely trashed by the new race-based politics of the Democratic Party. That has included Sen. Scott, a political leader who dares to challenge the policies and the politics of the left. And so, as Twitter showed, he had to be publicly humiliated.
It’s always been the same, stay in your lane, and if you don’t, you will be destroyed. It’s a way of shutting people down, silencing them, and something not mentioned nearly often enough: It is about threatening anyone who would support them.
Scott’s rebuttal was predictably trashed on MNSBC and other left-leaning networks, even as the racist hashtag was gaining steam.
But Democratic strategist James Carville understands the trap Democrats have set for themselves.
“Wokeness is a problem and we all know it” he told Vox, adding that Democrats have a “messaging problem.”
And the Biden-Harris administration must see the problem, too, because Vice President Kamala Harris was out Thursday morning to craft one of her word salads on “Good Morning America.” Harris conceded America is not a racist country, but “we also do have to speak truth” about the history of racism.
Scott came on Republican-friendly Fox News, heard Harris’ remarks and shook his head.
“It has been an amazing morning with so many good people calling,” Scott said. “But the left, they have doubled down that they’re going to not attack my policies, but they are literally attacking the color of my skin. You cannot step out of your lane, according to the liberal elite left. It is a fight. We are in the fight for our nation.”
Scott said he has been the subject of racial discrimination.
“I know what it feels like to be pulled over for no reason, to be followed around a store while I’m shopping. I remember every morning at the kitchen table my grandfather would open the newspaper and read it, I thought, but later I realized he had never learned to read it. He just wanted to set the right example,” Scott said during his speech.
Whether his popularity is a blip or whether it will be sustained, it’s too early to tell.
But his message has always been positive and optimistic. And though Donald Trump is still out there planning a comeback, he has made himself personally toxic.
Yet what of the hard left, is it not also toxic? At least the angry army of Wokistan trolls on Twitter have one accomplishment:
They’re making a star out of Sen. Tim Scott.
©2021 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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If Trump does not get the nomination, I would like to see a DeSantis / Scott ticket or Visa Versa. I want a real Conservative as President. I do not want a RINO getting the nomination. I will not vote for any RINOS.
AND if they do win back the white house (AND SENATE/house of reps), the FIRST DAMN THING THey need to do is NOT ONLY Rescind the 230 laws, BUT PUNISH the ever loving hell out of Twitter/farcebook/google..
One begins to wonder, had Trump chosen Scott or DeSantis for his Vice President, would January 6th turned out alot better? or even been necessary? The rule of law is always better than the rule of flaw, so if the Donald runs again, he better not have anything establishment covering his back, but men of accomplishment who have been through the heat of life’s crucibles that heat and form stronger wiser men, not just melt them and leave them on the ground.
He certainly seemed to have buggered up, picking deepstater pence as his running mate.
Most people in the U.S. do not judge anyone by the color of their skin,
but everyone by the contents of their character.
But that is not to say that one must not be cautious or stupid.
And one need not accept all actions, behavior and character of others
just because of the color of their skin.
Imagine had Tim Scott been the first black president, how much better in race relations we would be. I’ve been watching him for the last year and am so impressed with him. He seems to LOVE the USA – unlike the 2008 /2012 president who hated America.
I’d have certainly voted for him, had he ran against hillary/obama.