Television host Joy Behar took issue with Sen. Tim Scott saying America is not a racist country by explaining to him that he doesn’t “understand” what “systemic racism” means.
“Now, Tim Scott, he does not seem to understand — and a lot of them don’t seem to understand the difference between a racist country and a systemic — systemic racism,” The View co-host said Thursday. “They don’t seem to get the difference. Maybe it’s not a racist country. Maybe Americans, the majority, are not racist. But we live in a country with systemic racism.”
Behar, a white woman, said in response to Scott, a black man, that systemic racism relates to housing, education, and other factors.
“The fact that Tim Scott cannot acknowledge this is appalling,” Behar said. “How can you go out there and say that when you just said two minutes ago that you were the object and the victim of discrimination? And then, he says this is not a racist country. At least acknowledge that there is systemic racism. That’s what I wanted to hear from him, and he didn’t say it.”
.@JoyVBehar shares her takeaways from Pres. Biden’s “brilliant” joint address to Congress and what she wanted to hear from Sen. Tim Scott’s GOP rebuttal but didn’t.
“A lot of them don’t seem to understand the difference between a racist country and systemic racism.” pic.twitter.com/ZSKY269nO6
— The View (@TheView) April 29, 2021
Behar has been criticized in the past, including on her own show by former congressional candidate Kim Klacik, after she was accused of wearing “blackface” for what she described as dressing as a “beautiful black woman” and wearing makeup “that was a little bit darker than [her] skin.”
Her remarks Thursday came after Scott delivered the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday and defended the United States from being labeled a “racist country.”
“Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country,” the South Carolina Republican said. “It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination, and it’s wrong to use our painful past to honestly shut down debates in the present.”
Following Scott’s speech, liberals on Twitter began referring to the senator as “Uncle Tim,” a reference to the racial slur “Uncle Tom,” to the point that the phrase was trending on the social media platform.
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Scott, whose family history traces back to the Jim Crow South, responded by suggesting that liberals are the ones guilty of racism.
“They are not going to attack my policies,” Scott said. “They are literally attacking the color of my skin. You cannot step out of your lane according to the liberal-elite Left.”
Scott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Behar’s criticism.
