Senator Tim Scott on ‘The View’: An Example of Civilized, Productive Debate

Presidential candidate Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) was invited to share his perspective and vision for America on ABC’s “The View” on Monday. His appearance was especially needed after the show’s co-host, Whoopi Goldberg, on May 22, accused Senator Scott of having “Clarence Thomas Syndrome” (implying that African-Americans who are conservative are ignorant and don’t understand racism). Sunny Hostin piled on, saying, “The issue that Tim Scott has is that he seems to think because ‘I made it, everyone can make it’ — ignoring, again, the fact that he is the exception and not the rule. Until he is the rule, then he can stop talking about systemic racism.”

Scott directly responded to Hostin’s statement by saying, “One of the reasons why I’m on the show is because of the comments that were made quite frankly on this show: that the only way for a young, African-American kid to be successful in this country is to be the exception and not the rule. That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people today — that the only way to succeed is by being the exception. I’ll tell you that if my life is the exception, I can’t imagine.”

Sunny interrupted, “But it is.” Scott responded, “But it’s not, actually. The fact of the matter is we’ve had an African-American president, an African-American vice president, we’ve had two African-American secretaries of State …” He went on to say:

“The fact of the matter is that progress in America is palpable. It can be measured in generations. I look back at the fact that my grandfather, born in 1921 in Sallie, South Carolina, when he was on a sidewalk, a white person was coming, he had to step off and not make eye contact. That man believed then… in the goodness of America. Because he believed that faith in God, faith in himself, and faith in what the future could hold for his kids would unleash opportunities in ways that you cannot imagine…

“So what I’m suggesting is yesterday’s exception is today’s rule. … The concept of America is that we are going to become a more perfect union … in fact, the challenges that we faced 50 years ago and 60 years ago should not be the same challenges that we face today. … When my mother was born about 10% of African-Americans got a high school diploma. Today it’s over 90% percent. … The HBCU [historically black colleges and universities] stat is a good one. One of the reasons I took the funding for HCBU’s to the highest level in the history of the country and then helped make it permanent is because I believe that education is the closest thing to magic in America.”

According to Scott’s website, the senator was raised in North Charleston, South Carolina in a poor, single-parent household by his mother, Frances Scott. “Despite the challenging circumstances Frances faced raising her boys on her own, she instilled in each of them what it meant to find dignity in work, and the power that faith in God can have on your life.”

Scott has a refreshingly optimistic outlook on life — a vision that our country could use while it is currently so divided and most Americans are concerned about our economy and education system. He says one of the ways that we can restore hope in our nation is by expanding school choice. By the time he was in fourth grade he had been in four elementary schools, and when he was a freshman in high school he failed four subjects. So he understands the importance of hope. “We have too many kids in poor zip codes trapped in failing schools. I want parents to have a choice [of kids] having a bigger chance. …Sixty-seven percent of Democrats, 68% of Independents, 70% of Republicans, 72% of African-Americans, [and] 66% of Hispanics all agree on some form of school choice.”

Thankfully, Scott was not afraid to defend socially conservative positions either, which Ana Navarro brought up. She asked him about issues “which include things like banning drag shows … AP African-American studies, … books, Disney movies … This month we are celebrating ‘Happy pride, everybody!’ So...do you think Republicans are going too far?”

Scott responded, “I don’t think Republicans have gone too far in some of the issues that you’re underlining. The truth of the matter is that when you look at what’s gone too far in the corporate culture is, in my opinion, the radical Left making decisions to take stands against issues like the Georgia state election law.”

Navarro then interrupted him and said, “Do you think Disney is the radical Left?” Scott responded:

“I think Disney and Ron have been in a combat zone for a number of months over what I thought was the right issue as it relates to our young kids and what they’re being indoctrinated with. … I think protecting our kids from the indoctrination that’s happening in our culture today is an important part of the equation. I’d also go a step further and say the radical Left is getting involved from the corporate perspective on a number of issues to include … the Georgia state law that was supposedly the Jim Crow 2.0. And the fact of the matter is that when we look at the results of the last election, what we saw was not Jim Crow 2.0. What we saw was an actual record-breaking number of African-Americans not only voting but also succeeding at the ballot box. … Every single person should exercise their First Amendment rights. If they don’t like what’s happening with a corporation, stop shopping there.”

Free speech, the exchange of ideas, and free and fair elections. These are American values that are essential in order to help us “form a more perfect Union.” The current number of presidential candidates is a benefit to our country, and the debates between them help to expose truth to wider audiences. Hopefully, Scott’s informative and vigorous debate with “The View” hosts is a preview of what we can look forward to in future debates.