Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina was mocked in the media and is being attacked by the left after his response to the 100-day speech by President Joe Biden.
But what did Scott, a popular Republican and one of only three Black senators in the Senate, say that upset those on the left?
Scott’s speech mentioned his faith, and his “praying mom” and the incredible opportunities provided him by America to be where he is today.
“Becoming a Christian transformed my life,” he said.
Twitter is being criticized for hypocrisy after it failed to immediately take down racial slurs directed at the Black Senator, with the tech giant finally relenting and removing them after 12 hours of complaints from tens of thousands of Twitter users.
Scott, in cable news appearances Thursday, called out Democrats for using the racial slur in their attacks and Twitter which he said fails to remove racist comments directed at Republicans.
Metro Voice is providing the transcript of Scott’s speech below.
Good evening. I’m Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
I just heard President Biden’s first speech to Parliament. Our president seems to be a good person. His speech was full of good words. But President Biden has promised you a certain kind of leadership. He promised to unite the country. To lower the temperature. Govern all Americans, no matter how we vote. That was the pitch. You heard it again.
But our country is hungry for more than empty courtesy. We need policies and progress to bring us closer. But three months later, the actions of the president and his party further separated us.
Tonight, don’t waste your time with pointing or Partisan Vickers. You can always get it on the TV you want. I want to have an honest conversation. About common sense and common sense. About this feeling that our country is slipping off a shared foundation, and how we move forward together.
Growing up, I never dreamed of standing here tonight. When I was a kid, my parents divorced. My mother, brother, and I moved with my grandparents. Three of us share one bedroom. I was disillusioned and angry and was about to graduate from school. But I was blessed.
First, pray to your mother. Next, along with the mentor, a Chick-Fil-A operator named John Moniz. Finally, there is a series of opportunities that are only possible here in the United States.
Last year I saw COVID attacking all stages of the ladder that helped me. So many families lost their parents and grandparents early. So many small businesses went bankrupt. Being a Christian changed my life, but for months too many churches were closed.
Best of all, it’s a shame that millions of children lost a year of learning because they couldn’t afford to lose a day. Keeping vulnerable children out of the classroom is keeping adults out of their future.
Our public school should have been reopened a few months ago. Other countries have done so. Private schools and religious schools did. Science has shown that schools are safe for months. But too often, powerful adults set aside science. And children like me were left behind. The clearest case of school choice in our lifetime.
Last year, under Republican leadership, it passed five bipartisan COVID packages. Congress supported our hospital, saved our economy, funded Operation Warp Speed, and provided vaccines in record time. All five bills received more than 90 votes in the Senate. Common sense has found a common rationale.
In February, Republicans told President Biden that he would like to continue working together to win the battle. But Democrats wanted to do it alone. They spent nearly $ 2 trillion on the White House’s boasting partisan bill. This was the most liberal bill in American history. Only 1% were vaccinated. You don’t have to restart school right away. COVID has gathered Congress five times. This administration has separated us.
Another issue that should unite us is infrastructure. Republicans support everything you think about when you think about “infrastructure.” Roads, bridges, ports, airports, waterways, high-speed broadband—we are all involved! But again, the Democratic Party wants a list of party wishes. They don’t even build a bridge … to build a bridge!
Less than 6% of the president’s plans go to roads and bridges. It’s a liberal wishlist of big government waste … plus the biggest murder tax hike of its generation. Experts say that when everything is said and done, it will lower American wages and shrink our economy.
Tonight, I also heard about the so-called “family plan.” From cradle to college, more taxes and more spending to put Washington further in the middle of your life. The beauty of the American dream is that the family can define it for themselves. We should expand our options and opportunities for all families — don’t throw money on specific issues as Democrats think they know best.
“Infrastructure” spending that shrinks our economy is not common sense. It is not compassionate to weaken our southern border and create a crisis.
The president has abandoned the principles he held for decades. Now he says your taxes should fund abortion. He lays the foundation for cramming the Supreme Court. This is not a general rationale.
Nowhere is more desperate than racial debate. I experienced the pain of discrimination. I know what it feels like to be pulled for no reason. Follow around the store while I’m shopping. I remember my grandfather holding a newspaper at the kitchen table every morning. Later I realized that he had never learned to read it. He just wanted to set the right example.
I also experienced another kind of intolerance. I’m called “Uncle Tom” and N-word — by “progressive”! By liberals! Just last week, a national newspaper suggested that poverty in my family was actually a privilege, as relatives owned the land before my time. Believe me, I know our healing is not over.
In 2015, after shooting Walter Scott, I drafted a bill to fund body cameras. After the deaths of Breona Taylor and George Floyd last year, I created an even bigger police reform plan. But my Democratic colleague stopped it. I stretched the olive branch. I suggested them a fix. However, the Democratic Party used filibuster to prevent the debate from taking place. A friend of mine across the aisle seemed to want a problem rather than a solution. But I’m still working. I still have hope.
When America got together, we made tremendous progress. But powerful forces are trying to pull us apart. 100 years ago, children in the classroom were taught that skin color was their most important feature — and they were inferior in a particular way. Today, children are again taught that skin color defines them — and if they look in a particular way, they are oppressors.
From colleges to businesses to our culture, people are making money and gaining power by pretending that we are not progressing. By doubling the department, we have worked hard to heal.
You know this is wrong. Please listen to me clearly. America is not a racist country. Fighting discrimination with different discrimination is the opposite. And it is wrong to take advantage of our painful past to illegally lock out the current debate.
I’m an African-American who has voted in the South for the rest of my life. I personally take voting rights. Republicans support making voting easier and making cheating difficult. And so are voters! The majority of Americans support early voting, and the majority, including African Americans and Hispanics, support voter IDs. Common sense creates a common ground.
But today, this conversation has collapsed. The state of Georgia has passed a law to expand early voting. Keep email-in votes without excuses. And, despite what the president insisted, he did not shorten the election day time. If you actually read this law, it’s mainstream. Early voting is easier in Georgia than in New York, which is run by the Democratic Party. But the left doesn’t want you to know it. They want to send people a virtue signal by shouting about laws they haven’t even read.
The fact checker has called on the White House for misrepresentation. The president absurdly argues that this is worse than Jim Crow. What’s happening here? I’ll tell you. Washington power grab.
This misguided anger is supposed to justify the Democratic Party’s radical bill to take over the elections in all 50 states. Send public funds to political movements that disagree. And the bipartisan Federal Election Commission … to be partisan! This is not about civil rights or our racial past. It’s about future fraudulent elections.
And no — the same filibuster that President Obama and Biden praised when they were senators was used by the Democratic Party last year and is suddenly racist just because the shoes are on the other side. It was not a racist relic.
Race is not a political weapon to solve all problems in the way one side wants. That’s too important.
This should be a fun spring for our country. This administration has already inherited a strange trend. Coronavirus is running! Thanks to Operation Warp Speed and the Trump administration, our country is flooded with safe and effective vaccines. Jobs are recovering thanks to last year’s bipartisan work.
So why do we feel so divided and anxious? Countries with many reasons for hope should not feel that burden. The president who promised to unite us should not impose an agenda that tears us apart. American families are more suitable. And we know what the better looks like!
Just before COVID, we had the most comprehensive economy of my life. The lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. Worst for women near 70 years. Wages grew faster in the bottom 25% than in the top 25%. It happened because Republicans focused on expanding opportunities for all Americans.
For the first time, we have passed the Opportunity Zone for Historically Black Colleges, Criminal Justice Reform, and Permanent Funding. We fought the drug epidemic, rebuilt the military, and reduced taxes on working families and single mothers like me.
Our best future does not come from Washington’s plans or socialist dreams. It will come from you — American. Blacks, Hispanics, whites, Asians. Republican Party and Democratic Party. A brave police officer and a black neighborhood. We are not enemies. We are a family! We are all together.
And we will live in the greatest country on earth. The country where my grandfather saw his family go to Congress from cotton in his lifetime for 94 years.
So I hope our best time hasn’t come yet — I’m confident. Original sin is not the end of the story. Not in our souls, not for our country. The real story is always redemption.
I’m standing here Because my mother prayed for me during a very difficult time. I think our country was just as successful. For generations of Americans have sought grace in their own way — and God has provided it.
So I conclude with a word from the worship song that helped me throughout the year. The music is new, but the words are taken from the Bible.
(May) The Lord blesses you and protect you,
Make his face shine on you
And be kind to you …
May his presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you …
In your crying and joy
May his grace be (in our country) for a thousand generations
And your family … and your children …
Good night, and God bless you.
