Whoopi Goldberg suggests Tim Scott has ‘Clarence Thomas syndrome,’ accuses him of using racial ‘dog whistle’

“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg suggested Republican Sen. Tim Scott had “Clarence Thomas syndrome” while discussing the launch of his 2024 presidential campaign on Monday.

“One of the issues that Tim Scott has is that he seems to think, ‘Because I made it, everyone can make it.’ Ignoring, again, the fact that he’s the exception and not the rule. And until he’s the rule, then he can stop talking about systemic racism,” Hostin said. 

Goldberg said he had “Clarence Thomas syndrome.” 

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin noted Scott had “championed policies specific to help the Black and Brown community.”

“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg suggests Sen. Tim Scott has “Clarence Thomas syndrome.”

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Goldberg said that he had done “some good stuff,” but he had to do more as someone who is running for president. 

“If you’re running for president, you got to do more than that. You have to represent us as a nation and then say, ‘And as a Black man this is also how I feel,’ but you can’t pretend that it’s not there, that it’s not an issue for the people you’re running – for the party you’re running for. They are, in part, the problem,” she said. 

Earlier in the segment, Hostin said she didn’t know who Scott’s message would resonate with. 

“He’s talking about victimhood and personal responsibility as if people aren’t taking responsibility for their own actions. It seems to me that the Republican Party has a real racism problem. Those aren’t my words. Those are the words of Michael Steele in 2018, he was asked the chairperson, the first Black person to hold that position. He said there’s a real problem with racism within the Republican Party. He should know. And so it seems to me that, you know, at this point Tim Scott is only polling at 1.8%,” Hostin added. 

“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg reacted to Sen. Tim Scott joining the Republican presidential primary race on Monday.  ((Left: REUTERS/Allison Joyce, Right: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni))

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Goldberg took issue with Scott’s use of the word “victimhood” as well, calling it a “dog whistle.”

“As soon as you say that, you know what he’s talking about. I didn’t like that,” she said. “You know, listen, if he comes out with something that makes sense, that’s what will make him sparkle. Tell us what you’re going to do.” 

“You have to be here for the entire nation, figure out what’s going to work for everybody, not just for one side, because we’ve already had it and it doesn’t work that way. It’s not a good look,” she added.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is interviewed by Fox News just ahead of his 2024 presidential campaign launch, on May 21, 2023 in North Charleston, S.C. (Fox News )

Scott launched his presidential campaign in South Carolina on Monday and emphasized that the Republican Party and the nation “are standing at a time for choosing.”

The senator, standing in front of over 2,000 family, friends and supporters, asked “victimhood or victory? Grievance or greatness?”

“I choose freedom and hope and opportunity,” Scott stressed as he took a gentle swipe at former president Donald Trump. 

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Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.