SC Sen. Tim Scott to be feted during Obama’s inauguration

by Emily Goodin - 01/16/13 11:19 PM ET

Talk radio host Armstrong Williams is holding a reception honoring Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) — a rising GOP star and the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction — on the same day President Obama takes the oath of office at the Capitol.

Several prominent lawmakers, former members and other officials plan to attend Monday’s event, which will take place in the shadow of Scott’s new Senate office, at the Monocle Restaurant.

{mosads}“It’s not just to celebrate Tim Scott, but the values he represents,” Williams told The Hill. “The response has been remarkable.

“It’s not a conservative event,” said Williams (also a contributor to The Hill’s Pundits Blog). “We have people from all sides.”

Most of the South Carolina congressional delegation is expected to be on hand for the celebration, along with the man Scott replaced in the Senate, Jim DeMint (R).

Among the others who have RSVP’d: New York City mayoral candidate A. R. Bernard; former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who is a candidate for Scott’s former House seat; music executive Kevin Liles; Fox News commentator Juan Williams, who also writes a column for The Hill; former Minister of Commerce and Tourism for Nigerian Government Otunba Bola Kuforiji; Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn; former European Union Ambassador C. Boyden Gray; movie producer Russ Parr; political strategist Donna Brazile; and Baltimore Ravens executive David Modell.

Scott was appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) to fill the Senate seat of DeMint, who left the upper chamber to become president of the Heritage Foundation.

“I’ve known him for a long time,” Williams said of his fellow South Carolinian.

Williams is no stranger to events for high-profile public figures.

{mossecondads}In 2007, he held a book party for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The guests included fellow court justices and then-Vice President Cheney.

The Scott event, however, will be Armstrong’s first during a presidential inauguration. He said the extra security on Capitol Hill isn’t a concern, noting he’s dealt with it before.

“When you’ve held a book party for a Supreme Court justice and had all but one justice there” along with other VIPs, “the security will be a walk in the park for us,” Williams said.

And, naturally, when one holds a party for a rising African-American star on the same day the nation’s first black president begins his second term, it raises questions about Scott’s plans for 2016.

“I don’t even think it’s crossed his mind,” Williams said.

Tags Tim Scott