South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, made what many will see as a very apt comparison of today’s Democratic Party to a bygone and inherently racist era.
Early embraces of the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws, Scott told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday that today’s Dem party is so far to the left they resemble the party of old.
“The Democrat party and the progressive left are stuck in Jim Crow 1920s and 30s,” he said. “What they do not want is a Black man who thinks for himself.
“You can be anything in America if you’re black, except for a conservative. That’s why [“The View” co-host] Sunny [Hostin] is so radical and disgusting with her comments. They don’t want my life story to be told because it disrupts the lies of the radical left,” Scott continued.
“I can’t think of anything more disgusting to watch the Democrat party descend down into the 1920s. Unbelievable,” he added.
Scott declared his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in May.
“The Senate’s only Black Republican has made his grandfather’s work in the cotton fields of the Deep South a bedrock of his political identity. Yet Scott rejects the notion that racism remains a powerful force in society, and he has cast his candidacy and rise from generational poverty as the realization of a dream only possible in America,” Newsmax noted at the time.
Scott distinguishes himself from the leaders of the GOP field, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is anticipated to join the race soon, by emphasizing optimistic themes and steering clear of divisive rhetoric. Rather than embracing grievance-based politics, Scott seeks to set himself apart by promoting a more unifying approach.
He also refuses to cast his life story in the context of Democrat-generated racial inequities, noting that those who disagree with his views on the matter are simply trying to “weaponize race to divide us” and that “the truth of my life disproves their lies.”
During a recent stop in Iowa, where the first GOP primaries will be held, Scott emphasized a “new American sunrise” that would be rooted in collaborative efforts.
“I see a future where common sense has rebuilt common ground, where we’ve created real unity, not by compromising away our conservatism, but by winning converts to our conservatism,” he said.
“If you wanted a blueprint to ruin America, you’d keep doing exactly what Joe Biden has let the far left do to our country for the past two years,” he added. “Tell every white kid they’re oppressors. Tell Black and brown kids their destiny is grievance, not greatness.”
