South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who officially launched his Republican presidential primary bid Monday, responded to racially charged attacks by panelists on ABC's "The View," saying the best way to disprove their lies is through action.
Scott is the first Black senator elected in the South since Reconstruction – and the third overall. Shortly after the Civil War, Mississippi elected two Black Republicans – Blanche Bruce and Hiram Revels – to the U.S. Senate. In 2020, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., became the first Black Democratic senator elected in the South in that timespan.
On the left-leaning talk show, "The View" host Whoopi Goldberg suggested Scott has "Clarence Thomas syndrome." Thomas, a conservative U.S. Supreme Court justice from neighboring Georgia, has long been attacked by the left for not toeing what they believe is the proper jurisprudential line based on his skin color.
Goldberg's co-host Sunny Hostin further claimed one of Scott's "issues" is that he believes because he "made it" coming from an impoverished Black family in the South, "everyone can make it."
Scott told Fox News that Hostin had it backward when she claimed his story is "the exception, not the rule."
"Meekness is not weakness. I believe in the Gospel. I believe Matthew 5:44 says ‘Love your enemies' -- [but] if you break in my house, I also believe in the Second Amendment'," Scott told host Trey Gowdy, a fellow South Carolinian.
"We have to ignore the far left by disproving their lies by our actions. Here's the funny thing: The host, Sunny, she wants to be judged by the content of her character, not the color of her skin. The fact of the matter is America is a story of evolution – a never told story of evolution in too many of our schools that are indoctrinating our kids instead of educating our kids."
Scott said he is the rule, not the exception, in that every American child matriculating through a failing public school can look to left-wing teachers unions as the reason they are not getting a proper education.
"Every parent who wants a choice. Look to the Republican Party. Look to the GOP, but more importantly, look at Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic Americans – the majority of Americans all agree on school choice," he said.
TIM SCOTT FILES TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2024
He said the one thing in the way of providing children of all races a substantive education is "the radical left."
Gowdy remarked Hostin seems to have "made it" just as well, because she is a former federal prosecutor who also landed her current spot on a nationally-televised talk show.
He riffed that Scott must "scare the daylights out of the left" because of how many attacks and how many different facets of attacks the senator has endured in the few days since his campaign launched.
Gowdy noted some critics even took issue with Scott's campaign logo, which depicts Scott's likeness, sans facial features.
In response to the overall tenor of response from his critics, Scott said there is "no question my life disproves the lies of the radical left" and their "culture of victimhood is eating away at the soul of America."
Scott further cited how his grandfather was illiterate and worked in cotton fields, but was very wise in that he instilled in his grandson the mantra that "you can be bitter or better, but you can't be both" – saying that too many people buy into the former mindset.
"I say, not on my watch. Let's tell the whole story of America rising," Scott said.
