SC’s Tim Scott touts Republican accomplishments over President Biden’s in GOP rebuttal

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott took aim at the White House’s COVID-19 response in the GOP’s formal rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s first speech to a joint session of Congress, but he also highlighted Republican solutions to issues facing Americans.

And while Biden celebrated accomplishments such as the passage of pandemic relief, touted increased vaccination efforts and shifting tides in the economy, Scott attempted to take the wind out of the president’s sails. 

The junior South Carolina senator pointed to former President Donald Trump’s efforts as the reason for the decline in COVID-19 fears and said the GOP is to thank. 

“This administration inherited a tide that had already turned,” Scott said. “The coronavirus is on the run. Thanks to Operation Warp Speed and the Trump administration, our country is flooded with safe and effective vaccines. Thanks to our bipartisan work last year, job openings are rebounding.”

Additionally, he said Democratic attempts to halt or limit in-person school classes during the pandemic are “locking vulnerable kids out of the classroom, is locking adults out of their future.”

Scott’s speech overall took a positive tone in which he tried to lay out an optimistic vision for America that he believes Republican politicians can accomplish, if returned to power.

“Our best future won’t come from Washington schemes or socialist dreams,” Scott said. “It will come from you — the American people.”

Scott said “nowhere do we need common ground more desperately than in our discussions of race” and reflected on being pulled over by police and followed around stores. 

He also said “America is not a racist country” which echoes similar words said by former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Lindsey Graham in past GOP speeches. 

Scott reportedly spent the weekend in Charleston to prepare for the speech and decompress, according to Politico. He spent time with his mom, he worked out and he watched the superhero show “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” on Disney Plus. It was all part of what goes with being picked to be the rebuttal voice to Biden while also stoking speculation he is showing his own interest in the White House in 2024.

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As the lone Black Republican in the Senate, Scott highlighted his personal story including his upbringing in North Charleston with his single mother. He pointed to progress made before Democrats won both chambers of Congress as an example of what the GOP can accomplish for families like his.

“We passed Opportunity Zones, criminal justice reform and permanent funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities for the first time ever,” Scott said. “We fought the drug epidemic, rebuilt our military and cut taxes for working families and single moms like mine.”

Scott has often spoken about issues relating to race in policing as it has related to his life and in the Black community. In the wake of former police officer Derek Chauvin’s conviction in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Scott said there is “more work to be done” when it comes to law enforcement reform. 

Scott is seen as a Republican point man for any bipartisan effort on the federal response to police issues just as Democrats get behind their package of reforms. 

Biden briefly acknowledged the need for action on the issue and encouraged the passage of the Democrats’ George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. But he also encouraged compromise.

“I know the Republicans have their own ideas and are engaged in productive discussions with Democrats,” Biden said. “We need to work together to find a consensus.”

Scott said “nowhere do we need common ground more desperately than in our discussions of race” and reflected on being pulled over by police and followed around stores. 

He also said “America is not a racist country” which echoes similar works said by former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Lindsey Graham in past GOP speeches. 

This was Scott’s second nationally televised speech on behalf of the Republican Party. He closed out one night of the 2020 Republican National Convention on behalf of Trump where he took on a more adversarial tone against then-candidate Biden. He claimed the Democrat wanted to “come for your pocketbooks” and said liberals “are trying to permanently transform what it means to be an American.”

Scott is up for reelection in 2022 and has raised more than $2.2 million in the last quarter for his bid, according to the Federal Election Commission. 

Reach Thomas Novelly at 843-937-5713. Follow him @TomNovelly on Twitter.