Showing posts with label Senator Tim Scott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Senator Tim Scott. Show all posts

Thursday, June 30, 2022

Krystle Matthews wins Democratic U.S. Senate Primary, will challenge Sen. Tim Scott in November

South Carolina State Rep. Krystle Matthews on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Matthews, the second-place finisher in a June 14 primary, defeated author and preservationist Catherine Fleming Bruce in the runoff.

“People of South Carolina want somebody authentic and real,” Matthews told AP. “They are tired of people posing to be caring, posing to be intelligent, posing to be kind, and then finding out later on down the road that these people don’t even show up for them.”

Matthews also will run in November for a third state House term if she loses the U.S. Senate race.

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Black clergy claim Sen. Tim Scott refused to meet on Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation

NORTH CHARLESTON S.C. - Members of the Black clergy in the Lowcountry are voicing concerns that U.S. Sen. Tim Scott refused to meet with them about their concerns over the confirmation process of the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The National Action Network and members of clergy held a news conference Friday morning at noon at North Charleston City Hall to address their concerns. In a news release, the group says Scott would not meet with them to discuss the “despicable treatment” of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was eventually confirmed for the nation’s highest court.

“Sen. Scott’s vote against the most qualified judge to be nominated to the Supreme Court in modern times, not my opinion, but consensus, placed him on the wrong side of history,” the Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III, the vice president of the National Action Network, said. “As the first Black U.S. senator appointed and elected from the state of South Carolina in modern times, and frankly, the first senator of his race to serve since Reconstruction in the United States Senate, gave him a unique opportunity to do something that our ancestors our work has waited for and look forward to for hundreds of years, he had an opportunity to put principle love of family love of community by party and above nonsense. Sen. Scott had a historic opportunity, and I believe a solemn obligation to vote yes.”

Rivers said he was “troubled and frankly hurt” that Scott “did not defend Jackson’s character against the assassinations and the most outrageous and disgraceful treatment any nominee has faced during his time in the Senate.”

Rivers said the group requested a meeting with Scott, but Scott eventually responded to the request, stating in an email, “I will not be able to meet with y’all,” and that the group could meet with Scott’s staff.

“I wrote back to tell the senator, ‘We didn’t vote for your staff and the staff were not on the ballot,’” Rivers said.

He said Scott never got back to them about an alternative date and time.

“Members of the clergy wanted to share with Sen. Scott their concerns and disgust with the treatment of Judge Brown Jackson and Sen. Scott’s vote against her historic nomination,” the release states. “Sen. Scott has refused to meet with Black clergy to discuss our concerns, so tomorrow, many members of the clergy will make their concerns known publicly to Sen. Scott.”

[SOURCE WMBF]

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Senator Tim Scott failed Ketanji Brown Jackson, but it wasn't because he didn't vote for her

By George L. Cook III African American Reports.

Last week we saw the historical confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court.

She was confirmed by a 53-47 vote with only three Republicans supporting her. Those three were Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah.

Many African Americans were disappointed but not surprised that Tim Scott, the junior Senator from South Carolina chose not to support this historic nominee.

Now, let's be clear Tim Scott has the right to vote however he wants, and it's obvious by the lame excuses he gave for not supporting Jackson that he also has one hell of an imagination. That or he attends the alleged drug-fueled orgies that Madison Cawthorne was talking about and that has affected his better judgment.

But, to me not supporting Jackson is not where he failed her. He failed her by not speaking up for her as a person and as a Black woman.

After Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, and Marsha Blackburn showed blatant disrespect during the confirmation hearings he said nothing afterward.

Scott could have spoken up by publicly saying that although he was ideologically opposed to Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation, she deserves respect and that his fellow Republican senators were wrong in their treatment of her.

Scott has a mother and I'm assuming aunts, cousins, and nieces that are also Black. He wouldn't want anyone treating them as Jackson was treated. He should have thought of those Black women in his life and spoke up not as a senator but as a Black man.

In my opinion, nothing but cowardice and ambition stopped him from speaking up.

Scott has gone on Fox News lamenting how he was treated by the left after not supporting Jackson. He should stop whining and think about how Jackson felt after being attacked for hours during those hearings.

During that time she showed more grace, bravery, integrity, and calm under fire than Scott ever will.

Sadly, Senator Tim Scott has forgotten where he came from, but we won't forget what he has shown himself to be.

Monday, April 04, 2022

Senator Tim Scott to vote no on Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson

U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) released a statement on his intention to vote "no" on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The historic nature of Judge Jackson’s nomination reinforces the progress our country has made. However, ideology must be the determining factor—not identity—when considering such an important lifetime appointment," said Senator Tim Scott. "It is clear that Judge Jackson’s judicial philosophy and positions on the defining issues of our time make her the wrong choice for the Supreme Court. From leaving the door open on court packing to her multiple overturned opinions, I cannot support a nominee with her record of judicial activism. I remain disappointed that President Biden missed the opportunity to unite the country with a mainstream nominee that could have received resounding bipartisan support. For all these reasons, I will be voting no on Judge Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court."

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Cory Booker and Tim Scott Introduce Resolution Celebrating Black History Month

U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced a bipartisan resolution celebrating Black History Month and the important contributions made by Black Americans throughout United States history.

The resolution “acknowledges that all people of the U.S. are recipients of the wealth of history provided by Black culture” and “recognizes the importance of Black History Month as an opportunity to reflect on the complex history of the U.S., while remaining hopeful and confident about the path ahead.”

It also “acknowledges the significance of Black History Month as an important opportunity to commemorate the tremendous contributions of African Americans to the history of the U.S.” and “encourages the celebration of Black History Month to provide a continuing opportunity for all people in the U.S. to learn from the past and understand the experiences that have shaped the U.S.”

Full text of the resolution can be viewed here.

The resolution is cosponsored by: Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D- CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), John Ossoff (D-GA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), James Risch (R-ID), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Todd Young(R-IN).

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Senator Tim Scott Says Getting COVID-19 Information To African Americans Will 'Save Lives'

During an interview on NPR's Morning Edition, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) stressed the importance of federal government outreach to African Americans about preventive measures like wearing face coverings and hand-washing. "It's important for us to have a specific and unique campaign to communicate the importance of following the protocols within the African-American community," the senator said.

Listen to his comments below:

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Republican Sen. Tim Scott votes against coronavirus stimulus package

Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott voted against a $100 billion stimulus package to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus that has sent the American economy into a free fall.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed the measure with a 90-8 vote Wednesday, sending it to President Donald Trump who later signed the package.

Though the legislation provides free testing, expands unemployment benefits and provides paid sick leave to some displaced workers due to the COVID-19 virus emergency, Scott, the junior senator from South Carolina, was one of eight Republicans to vote against it.

In a statement released after the vote, Scott said the “well-meaning” legislation would have a “disastrous effects for South Carolina’s small businesses.”

Later Wednesday night he issued an updated response.

“The provisions in the bill as it relates to paid leave place a mandate on small businesses without a corresponding immediate cash flow,” he said.

“We all agree that paid leave needs to play a significant role in relief packages, but to mandate paid leave and then tell businesses they will get it back in a tax credit, is not a good path ...,” he added.

[SOURCE: POST&COURIER]

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Sen. Tim Scott is taking the issue of impeachment seriously

Senate Republicans are taking the House impeachment proceedings against President Trump more seriously as damaging revelations against the president mount and the possibility of a quick dismissal of the charges shrinks.

Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) was the latest GOP senator to express concerns Wednesday even though he argued that the House has yet to provide any evidence that would support actually removing Trump from office.

Asked Wednesday if he had any concerns at all in light of recent reports on Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine, Scott said, “There’s lot of things that concern me.”

But he added, “That’s not the question.”

“The question on the table is impeachment and that’s the question we should get an answer to, and the answer so far is ‘For what would we impeach the president?’ And the answer is ‘I don’t see anything for that,’ ” he said.

At the same time, Scott acknowledged there is pressure on Senate Republicans to take any impeachment articles seriously.

“Everybody wants us to do the right thing. In order to do the right thing, we want to see all that there is,” Scott told reporters, explaining that he’s not ready to dismiss the House charges out of hand.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Tim Scott: Why are Republicans accused of racism? Because we’re silent on things like this.

Republican U.S. Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina wrote an opinion piece which was published in the Washington Post in which he called out the Republican party for its silence on issues of racism. The most recent incident being Rep. Steve King's (R-Iowa) reprehensible comment son white nationalism. Read that op-ed below:

Why are Republicans accused of racism? Because we’re silent on things like this.

By Tim Scott January 11 at 1:38 PM


Tim Scott, a Republican, represents South Carolina in the U.S. Senate.

Over the past two years, Republicans have focused on spreading opportunity, and it has paid dividends: From the creation of opportunity zones in some of our nation’s most distressed communities to amazing job-creation statistics and low unemployment rates, there’s no doubt that the future is brightening for many Americans.

However, we are often still struggling when it comes to civility and fairness. This was driven home once again Thursday as Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) wondered aloud: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

I will admit I am unsure who is offended by the term “Western civilization” on its own, but anyone who needs “white nationalist” or “white supremacist” defined, described and defended does lack some pretty common knowledge.

Three months ago, a white supremacist killed two black people in a parking lot in Kentucky. We are only 18 months from Charlottesville, where white nationalists killed a white woman with a car and severely beat multiple black people. Almost four years ago, a white supremacist murdered nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, S.C. In 1998, white supremacists dragged James Byrd Jr., behind a pickup truck through Jasper, Tex., decapitating him in the process.

These are just a sliver of the havoc that white nationalists and white supremacists have strewn across our nation for hundreds of years. Four little girls killed in a bombing in Birmingham, Ala., thousands lynched and countless hearts and minds turned cruel and hateful.

When people with opinions similar to King’s open their mouths, they damage not only the Republican Party and the conservative brand but also our nation as a whole. They want to be treated with fairness for some perceived slights but refuse to return the favor to those on the other side.

Some in our party wonder why Republicans are constantly accused of racism — it is because of our silence when things like this are said. Immigration is the perfect example, in which somehow our affection for the rule of law has become conflated with a perceived racism against brown and black people.

I do support border security not because I want to keep certain ethnicities out of our nation, but because I support enforcing our laws. I do not care if you come from Canada, France or Honduras, if you break our laws, there should be consequences. But it has become almost impossible to have a reasonable conversation along those lines. That’s in part why I laid out my agenda on civility, fairness and opportunity on Thursday on the floor of the Senate.

King’s comments are not conservative views but separate views that should be ridiculed at every turn possible. Conservative principles mean equal opportunity for all to succeed, regardless of what you look like or where you are from. It is maddening to see so many folks who believe this and have only good intentions in their hearts tarnished by these radical perspectives.

That is why silence is no longer acceptable. It is tempting to write King — or other extremists on race issues, such as black-nationalist Louis Farrakhan — as lonely voices in the wilderness, but they are far more dangerous than that. They continue to rip at the fabric of our nation, a country built on hope, strength and diversity. It is the opposite of civility and fairness and will lead only to more pain and suffering.

We have made significant progress in our nation, and while there is still work to do, we cannot let these intolerant and hateful views hold us back. This is a uniquely fractured time in our nation’s history, not our worst but far from our best, and it is only together that we will rebuild the trust we seem to have lost in each other.

We must work to lead our nation forward. In the future, I hope Steve King takes the opportunity to join us.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Senator Tim Scott wants his party to get smarter on race.

Sen. Tim Scott wants fellow Republicans to get smarter about judicial nominees — specifically, to stop nominating judges with questionable records on race.

The South Carolina Republican earlier this month was instrumental in blocking confirmation of a second judge in four months over concerns about how they’ve dealt with race issues in the past.

But fellow Republicans showed no immediate signs they would do anything, anytime soon, to take some of the pressure off Scott, the Senate’s only black Republican.

He is up against members of his party who don’t think any of their nominees are problematic. That includes fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is poised next month to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which evaluates judges and recommends them for or against confirmation.

“I respect (Scott) very much. There’s nobody I respect more than Tim,” said Graham, before dismissing Scott’s concerns that Thomas Farr, a nominee for a judgeship in the Eastern District of North Carolina, might have been behind a voter suppression strategy in 1990 that involved sending purposefully misleading information to African-Americans.

“I don’t think he had a fraught record on race. I think the mail-out was disgusting in 1990, and (Farr) had nothing to do with it,” Graham insisted.

The conservative base that fuels much of the GOP’s political energy is equally dismissive. The day after Scott announced he would provide the decisive vote to kill the Farr nomination, the grassroots advocacy group FreedomWorks blasted out an email with the phone number for Scott’s office.

“Don’t let this strong conservative nominee crash and burn!” read the call to action from FreedomWorks president Adam Brandon. “Urge (Scott) to stand with President Trump and CONFIRM Thomas Farr.”

Meanwhile, Republican leaders have opted to pretend the debate never occurred, keeping Farr’s candidacy in limbo rather than formally withdrawing his nomination.

Fellow black Republicans, though, are concerned.

Read more: Tim Scott wants his party to get smarter on race. His colleagues are making it tough.

Friday, November 30, 2018

GOP Sen. Tim Scott To Oppose Trump Judicial Nominee Thomas Farr

Republican Sen. Tim Scott announced Thursday he would oppose President Donald Trump's nominee to be a US district judge in North Carolina, effectively ending the nomination that had been plagued with accusations that Thomas Farr supported measures that disenfranchised African-American voters.

"This week, a Department of Justice memo written under President George H.W. Bush was released that shed new light on Mr. Farr's activities. This, in turn, created more concerns. Weighing these important factors, this afternoon I concluded that I could not support Mr. Farr's nomination," Scott said in a statement.

Scott, who is the Senate's sole black Republican, told reporters Wednesday that he wanted to speak to the author of a 1991 memo obtained by the Washington Post, which outlines a controversial postcard campaign distributed by the 1990 campaign of Sen. Jesse Helms that the Justice Department said were used to intimidate black voters from going to the polls.

Scott's decision to oppose Farr prevented Farr from being confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans hold a 51-to-49 seat majority. Also opposing Farr was Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who has sworn off advancing Trump judicial nominees until the chamber votes on a bill to protect special counsels such as Robert Mueller. All 49 Democrats opposed the nomination.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Sen. Tim Scott: Trump comments racially toxic

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina condemned presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s comments about a Mexican-American judge overseeing the Trump University lawsuit as “racially toxic.”

But he said he would still support Trump as the Republican nominee, arguing that disagreeing with Trump’s remarks and continuing to endorse him were not mutually exclusive.

Trump has labeled Curiel a “hater,” “very hostile” and “Mexican,” in connection to how the case has been handled against him, alleging bias.

“I’m not living in a silo,” Scott said. “The reality of it is, we have the impact of Trump’s policies and positions compared to Hillary Clinton’s policies and positions, and I am entirely convinced the country is better off under the policies and positions of the Republican Party than they are under the Democratic Party.”

SOURCE: Charleston Post and Courier