Tim Scott vs. Barack Obama: race in the United States

Tim Scott announced his candidacy for president in mid-May and immediately drew national attention. His entry in the Republican primaries earned him an invitation to the show “The View,” where he made some very memorable statements about the role of race in today’s United States. Precisely, these remarks earned him criticism from Barack Obama, which the South Carolina senator duly answered.

“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,” Scott said on the program, concluding that “yesterday’s exception is today’s norm.”

In addition, the Republican assured time and again that the United States “is not a racist country,” rhetoric that he maintains during this new stage as a presidential candidate.

Obama evidently disagreed with the Republican’s assertions, so he took advantage of his appearance on David Axelrod’s “Axe Files” podcast to respond. “There’s a long history of African American or other minority candidates within the Republican Party who will validate America and say, ‘Everything’s great, and we can make it,” the former president replied.

“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,” he added.

“There is no greater compliment than being attacked by President Obama”

The senator and presidential candidate took up the gauntlet and echoed the former president’s comments on “Fox News Sunday.” To begin with, he stated that he was pleased with the criticism and later analyzed Obama’s role in the current Democratic Party.

“There is no greater compliment than being attacked by President Obama,” he fired back, later adding that “every time the Democrats feel threatened, they bring out the former president and have him make some negative comment about someone running, in the hopes that their numbers will go down.”