Obama says people ‘rightly skeptical’ of Tim Scott’s rhetoric on racism

Former President Obama criticized Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) optimistic tone on race and acknowledged while projecting a hopeful message is important, “That has to be undergirded with an honest accounting of our past and our present.

“And so if a Republican, who may even be sincere in saying, ‘I want us all to live together,’ doesn’t have a plan for how do we address crippling generational poverty that is a consequence of hundreds of years of racism in this society, and we need to do something about that. If that candidate is not willing to acknowledge that, again and again, we’ve seen discrimination in everything from … getting a job to buying a house to how the criminal justice system operates,” Obama said in a podcast interview with his former White House senior adviser David Axelrod.

“If somebody’s not proposing, both acknowledging and proposing, elements that say, ‘No, we can’t just ignore all that and pretend as if everything’s equal and fair. We actually have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.’ If they’re not doing that, then I think people are rightly skeptical,” Obama added.

Scott is the only Black candidate in the 2024 GOP presidential primary pool, and Obama was asked specifically about his messaging on race. The former president said that while he was not trying to criticize Scott individually, there is sometimes a tendency among Republican candidates to gloss over the lingering effects of centuries of racism and instead “validate America and say, ‘Everything great, and we can make it.’”

Scott has frequently argued that his success as a Black man is not exceptional; rather, it represents the progress the country has made. Critics have taken issue with this sentiment, arguing it ignores racial obstacles many face every day.

“There may come a time where there’s somebody in the Republican Party that is more serious about actually addressing some of the deep inequality that still exists in our society that tracks race and is a consequence of our racial history. And if that happens, I think that would be fantastic. I haven’t yet seen it,” Obama added. 

Scott responded to Obama’s critique in an interview with Mark Levin, saying Obama missed his opportunity to bring the country together.  

“[Obama] missed a softball moving at slow speed with a big bat. … You can’t miss this opportunity,” he said, adding “America was hungry for bringing our country together, this coalition building, where you can see Black kids and white kids and red ones and brown ones, as MLK about, joining hands and singing with new meaning, ‘My country ‘tis of thee.’”

In a Twitter post later on Thursday, Scott reiterated his position and responded directly to Obama’s comments again.

“Let us not forget we are a land of opportunity, not a land of oppression. Democrats deny our progress to protect their power,” he wrote. “The Left wants you to believe faith in America is a fraud and progress in our nation is a myth.”

“The truth of MY life disproves the lies of the radical Left,” Scott continued. “We live in a country where little Black and Brown boys and girls can be President of the United States. The truth is – we’ve had one and the good news is — we will have another.”