Natalia Chi
Seeing Senator Tim Scott’s presidential candidacy speech, I was struck by how differently I would have reacted to his message ten years ago. In 2013 I wrote: “The Republican Party’s obsession with having the government deal with unconscionable and unmanageable debt, freeing up a productive private sector to generate economic growth, and maintain the country’s military superiority is It’s their honor.”
Ten years have passed and I am sadder and (hopefully) smarter. As the years have shown, the Republican Party has completely abandoned integrity. Kevin McCarthy and his band of nihilists will not recognize good intentions if it hits them. Republicans proudly calling for “fiscal discipline” were docile house dogs when President Donald Trump increased the deficit by 50% — and that was before COVID-19. In total, they said with a laugh, the national debt would add another $7.8 trillion. Did I mention that President Trump quietly raised the debt ceiling three times during his presidency?
Scott was on board with all of this, so it sounded a little hollow when he countered on Monday that “over the decades we’ve been getting more and more indebted to the CCP.”
There’s nothing I like or admire about Scott. He rose out of poverty. His grandfather picked cotton. When he says, “My family went from cotton to Congress in a lifetime,” he has every right to be proud. And while he wasn’t brave enough to denounce Trump, he wasn’t an outright snotty coward either. After the Charlottesville disaster of “both fine people,” he said: “What we want in a president is clarity and moral authority. And that moral authority is undermined. . . . There is no question about that.”
When asked about serious inequalities, Scott speaks about education. After years of bitter disillusionment with conservatives and (especially) Republicans, I still believe that our schools are a disgrace and that education reform is the best way to reduce poverty and despair. I believe. I might not use the phrase “less CRTs, more ABCs”, but hey, this is politics. Let’s ignore that. Cheers to policy.
I would also like to send a message of support. In his opening speech, Scott insisted that “we must show compassion to those who disagree with our views,” perhaps moving from ridiculing atrocities to supporting atrocities. It’s probably not the most favorable feeling for the perpetually confused Republican constituency that has become.
Scott’s supporters hope his message of patriotic optimism will serve as an unspoken rebuke to the darker side the party has taken with President Trump, but they’re lucky. There is no Pin-up Kyle Rittenhouse, threaten amnesty for convicted killers of Black Lives Matter protesters, and join the Jan. 6 riots in “legitimate political debate.” Citizens and parties expressing their optimism do not seem eager for a return to sunny days.
Does Scott have one unique advantage here? Of course. Republicans love black conservatives. I think the reason the Republican Party puts so much love into black candidates and others (like Condoleezza Rice) is to prove they don’t have racism in their hearts. I thought it was because Since 2015, however, things have changed. It’s President Trump’s anger in Charlottesville that keeps masks off. “Hole Country”. slander of immigrants. One senator said Democrats were in favor of reparations for “the people who committed the crimes.” Marjorie Taylor Green and Tucker Carlson mainstreamed the “great alternative” theory.
So Scott’s pitch that his life is a testament to American virtue and the lack of racism seems incongruent, and rather than an affirmation of patriotism, the Republican vote of “I’m the candidate the left fears most” It is a cynical play on Translation: I am the black candidate who will claim your racial innocence.
“We can choose to be victims or win,” exclaimed Scott. “Discontent or greatness.” Sure, there are people on the left crouching in discontent, but is there an impartial mind who doesn’t see the victimhood and discontent that pours out of every outlet of the Republican Party? “I will be the president who breaks the liberal lie that America is an evil country,” Scott promises. seriously? Rather, he’s likely to be the candidate to put up and attack the biggest straw man.
Is this unfair to Scott? Perhaps someone said, “I can’t keep up no matter how sarcasm I say.” A breath of fresh air, Scott says of the events of January 6th. “President Trump is the one I can’t blame.” “I think everyone wants to jump on the Trump bandwagon, no question about it.”
If you want to prove that America is not an evil nation, why not start by eliminating running for or voting for a truly evil person.
Mona Charen is policy editor for The Bulwark and host of the podcast “Beg to Differ.”
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