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Tim Scott, Black Republican Senator, Lectures Trump on Racism

From the New York Times.

Tim Scott, the lone black Republican in the Senate, delivered a pointed history lesson on America’s “300-year” legacy of racism to President Trump on Wednesday in response to what he called Mr. Trump’s “sterile” response to the riots in Charlottesville, Va., last month.

The president invited Mr. Scott, a conservative from South Carolina who had expressed disgust with Mr. Trump’s equivocal reaction to the white supremacist protests that left one woman dead, to the Oval Office for what Mr. Trump’s staff described as a demonstration of the president’s commitment to “positive race relations.”

When a reporter asked the senator after the meeting if the president had expressed regret, a pained look flashed on Mr. Scott’s face. He paused for a few seconds and replied, “He certainly tried to explain what he was trying to convey.”

White House officials emailed reporters a photograph of Mr. Trump listening intently as Mr. Scott made a point, with both sitting in chairs often used for bilateral meetings with foreign leaders. The White House misidentified him as Tom Scott.

In his remarks to reporters, Mr. Scott made it clear he did not go to the White House for a photo op, but to decisively rebut Mr. Trump’s claim — to the president’s face — that “both sides,” racists and anti-racist protesters, were responsible for the violence that followed a torchlight protest against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.

“My response was that, while that’s true, I mean I think if you look at it from a sterile perspective, there was an antagonist on the other side,” Mr. Scott said.

“However, the real picture has nothing to do with who is on the other side,” he said.

“It has to do with the affirmation of hate groups who over three centuries of this country’s history have made it their mission to create upheaval in minority communities as their reason for existence,” he continued. “I shared my thoughts of the last three centuries of challenges from white supremacists, white nationalists, KKK, Nazis. So there’s no way to find an equilibrium when you have three centuries of history versus the situation that is occurring today.”

Mr. Trump responded by repeatedly saying, “That makes sense,” and concluded the meeting by telling the senator, “Let’s keep talking.”

On Wednesday, he told reporters he was “encouraged and surprised” by Mr. Trump, who spent most of the session listening, and not talking.

[...]

Mr. Scott was careful to add that there was “no time of tension” in the meeting. The president, he added, stayed focused on the subject of race most of the time.

Mr. Trump “was ever-present during the entire meeting,” he said.

While Mr. Trump reacted angrily when his response was questioned by members of his own staff, most notably Gary D. Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, he quickly recognized the danger of having the highest-profile black Republican on Capitol Hill criticizing him and sought ways to begin a dialogue with Mr. Scott.
 
Right before he walked in

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T

thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
When a reporter asked the senator after the meeting if the president had expressed regret, a pained look flashed on Mr. Scott's face. He paused for a few seconds and replied, ”He certainly tried to explain what he was trying to convey."

But Axious said this was going to be Trumps reset on race.
 
Who thinks a 71 year old man with a history of racism is going to change their mind?

exactly.

add to that the fact that he got to be rich and eventually the president of the fucking country BY being racist, not in spite of it.

Was good to hear that the lone black Republican senator was in fact royally pissed tho
 

TaterTots

Banned
Earlier, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump would be working closely with Tim Scott to figure this out. What are we spinning now?
 

norm9

Member
This dude gonna get tweet pic'ed by tomorrow morning by the prez with the caption me and Tom. He's family.
 

studyguy

Member
Reminder that Trump just proclaimed today was the start of Hispanic Heritage Month not a week after the DACA announcement claiming Hispanics were "a testament to the American promise." Oddly enough the official announcement makes it sound like he's creating the month when it already existed (albeit 2 days earlier than it has historically run).

If you're a minority hanging your hat on Trump then you best watch yourself. No amount of lectures is going to change a 70 year old man with less years going forward than he has behind him.
 
Frankly I'm surprised there are any black republicans but some folks are always eager to carry water for their abusers i guess.

This is way out of the scope of the thread but I think black people are an extremely untapped constituency for the Republican party that the latter squanders by pandering to white populism. Black people consistently poll as very conservative socially. This is why the Republican party was making in-roads with Hispanics and why Michael Steele as RNC chair was trying desperately to expand party outreach. Also, if Colin Powell ran in the general election (maybe with Condoleeza Rice on the ticket), they'd definitely win the black vote.

But Colin Powell wouldn't make it past the primary because, like I said, a sizable portion of the people who actually vote in the Republican primaries are not interested in having a black president.

So the reason you have people like Tim Scott and Michael Steele and Colin Powell and whoever else is because they're conservatives who desperately want the party to move in a more inclusive direction. People like Bush and Mitt Romney tried this for 12 years but it never really worked. I can't predict the future, though.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Surprised Trump didn't have him taken down by the SS on the grounds of aggressive politics
 

HeySeuss

Member
I hope he made some progress, any progress at all with that thick-skulled idiot, but fuck if I'm gonna hold my breath.

This was probably more aimed at his base than actually hoping to get anywhere with Trump. Republicans love to parade the "good blacks" that "get it" about how racism doesn't exist or cops don't get out of line if you just do what you're told. But having a republican black man talking about racism might reach a couple people.

But it really won't, but a man can dream...
 

kamineko

Does his best thinking in the flying car
It's got to be hard to get on with those Republican folks these days. More bullshit than usual out in the open
 

theWB27

Member
Isn't this the dude that vouched for Jeff sessions? Im having a hard time figuring out why he's lecturing trump on this when he elected to vote in a racist to over see Americas police force known to not treat poc equally. But i digress...
 
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