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South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott joined “The View” on Monday and it did not take long for the gloves to come off.
The show began fairly light-hearted with Scott speaking about his 2024 presidential campaign, but ended up sparring with co-host Sunny Hostin after she pressed him to define “systemic racism.”
The conversation began when Alyssa Farah Griffin asked Scott about his optimistic message and his running on his life story of having overcome great adversity to live the American dream. Then, Hostin hijacked the conversation and attempted to spar with Scott over his positions.
The interview got so tense at one moment that Goldberg asked the crew for help when she was demanding Scott stop talking so they could cut to commercial.
Below is a partial transcript of the exchange:
HOSTIN: “I am actually happy that you’re here. We — we — we have some things in common. You grow up — you grew up in a single-family household, single-mother household, I grew up with both of my parents but raised in the Bronx projects amidst a lot of poverty and — and — and violence. And you were the first black senator elected in the south since the reconstruction, that would be about — I think, about 114 years. Yet you say that your life disproves left—leftist lies. And — and —“
Scott: “Yes.”
HOSTIN: “— my question to you is, I’m the exception, right? You’re the exception. Maybe even Ms. Whoopi Goldberg is the exception but — but —“
HAINES: “She is definitely the exception.”
HOSTIN: “— but we are not the rule. And so when it comes to racial inequality, it persists in — in five core aspects of life in the U.S., economics, education, health care, criminal justice, and housing. At nearly every turn, these achievements were fought, threatened and erased most often by white violence. You have indicated that you don’t believe in systemic racism. What is your definition of systemic racism?”
Scott: “Let me answer the question that you’ve answered.”
HOSTIN: “Does it — or does it even exist in your mind?”
Scott: “Yeah. Let me — let me answer the question this way. One of the things I think about, and one of the reasons why I’m on the show is because of the comments that were made, frankly, on this show, that the only way for a young African-American kid to be successful in this country is to be the exception, and not the rule. That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people today, that the only way to succeed is by being the exception. I will tell you that if my life is the exception, I can’t imagine —“
HOSTIN: “But — but it is.”
Scott: “But it’s not actually. Here’s — here’s —“
HOSTIN: “It’s been 114 years.”
Scott: “Yeah. So — so, the fact of the matter is we’ve had an African-American president, African American vice president, we’ve had two African-Americans to be secretaries of state. In my home city, the police chief is an African American who’s now running for mayor. The head of the highway patrol for South Carolina is African-American. In 19 —“
HOSTIN: “Still exceptions.”
Scott: “— in 1975, there was about 15 percent unemployment in the African-American community. For the first time in the history of the country it is under 5 percent.”
HOSTIN: “It’s 40 percent homelessness —“
Scott: “And 50 percent of the folks —“
HOSTIN: “— of African-Americans, yet — yet 13 percent of the population.”
Scott: “You’ve got the chance to ask a question. I know that — I’ve watched you on the show that you’d like people to be deferential and respectful. So I’m going to do —“
The segment took a massive turn when Scott tried to answer a question from Goldberg.
Hostin began asking Scott a question, to which he turned to Hostin to look at her directly — which resulted in him turning his back on Goldberg, Sara Haines, and Ana Navarro.
“That was me talking to you, so I’d love that, shall I come next to her?” Goldberg said as she left her chair to sit next to Hostin. “Your back looks pretty damn good from here,” Navarro said to Scott.
As Scott proceeded to talk, Goldberg apparently had issues diverting the show to commercial, requesting help from the show’s staff.
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