South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said no party has a monopoly on racism in the United States.
Scott, the lone black Republican senator, told ABC’s This Week there have been moments where he disagreed with President Trump on the issue of race but also noted that he has witnessed moments of racism from both Republicans and Democrats.
“Whether it’s Dick Durbin with his use of ‘token’ versus other comments made by the president, there is plenty of blame of race on both sides, and we need to be more sensitive on the issue of race in this nation,” Scott said.
“But in order for us to make progress, I think it’s kind of insincere, or at least not authentic, to suggest that one side has a bigger problem than the other. Especially if you look at the 1994 crime bill that Cory Booker himself said to Joe Biden: ‘This locked up a disproportionate share of African Americans,’ and then he worked with the president, President Trump, to get the First Step Act taken care of. Both sides of the aisle should be working for a more harmonious union called the great United States of America,” Scott said.
Durbin, a white Illinois Democrat, referred to Scott’s legislation on police reforms as a “token, half-hearted approach” to the issue. He later apologized for the comment.
The GOP bill, titled the Justice Act, incentivizes police departments to ban chokeholds, discourages no-knock warrants, offers grants for police body cameras, and would make lynching a federal crime, among other proposals. It came after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on Memorial Day after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes despite his pleas for air.
Trump has been leaning on Scott’s legislation while fielding criticisms for his response to the protesters. Mary Elizabeth Taylor, who had been the assistant secretary of state, resigned last week in protests to Trump’s handling of race issues in the country. Scott said he respects Taylor but stressed that he has worked with Trump on race issues with a lot of success.
“The president has said things that I have found offensive. I have spoken out against those things publicly, and I also called him, and we’ve had constructive conversations. Here’s what I’ll say, I think Mary Elizabeth is a wonderful person, brilliant. She has an incredibly bright future. She’s following her convictions,” Scott said.
“I believe that my convictions have allowed me to work on, with the president, on opportunities zones, on the highest funding for HBCUs, historically black colleges and universities, in the history of the country, on permanent funding for those schools. […] We were able to sit with the families of victims of police brutality and have a serious and civil conversation where the families left, and they said themselves, they were heard by this president. I’m not sure what their expectation was coming in. I know what their expectations were going out,” he said.
