Former President Barack Obama (D) is taking issue with Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) comments about race in the United States.
Obama sat down for an interview with CNN’s David Axelrod on his podcast “The Axe Files.”
“I’m not being cynical about Tim Scott individually. I am maybe suggesting that the rhetoric of ‘can’t we all get along?’ – and those quotes you made about, you know, from my speech in 2004 about there’s a ‘United States of America’ – that has to be undergirded with an honest accounting of our past and our present,” the former president said.
He continued:
“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… If somebody is 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.’… If they’re not doing that, then I think people are rightly skeptical.”
Listen to his comments below:
Obama discusses Tim Scott, Nikki Haley and how they talk about race w/ @davidaxelrod pic.twitter.com/C8uv4b7oci
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 15, 2023
Scott has argued the U.S. is not a racist country.
During his 2024 presidential campaign launch, he highlighted his own story as he said, “We live in the land where it is absolutely possible for a kid raised in poverty, in a single-parent household, in a small apartment to one day serve in the People’s House, and maybe even the White House.”
“This is the greatest nation on God’s green earth… I’m living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not the land of oppression,” Scott added.
During an appearance on ABC’s “The View,” he called the notion that Black people can only succeed in the country “by being the exception” a “dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people today.”
Now, Scott has admitted the U.S. is not perfect and there is more work to do to become a more perfect union.
Senator Tim Scott to the hosts of The View:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 5, 2023
"I’m on the show because of the comments made frankly on this show…the only way for a young African American kid to be successful in this country is to be the exception…? That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message…" pic.twitter.com/wAJzL4C3EP
But Obama, who was elected as the nation’s first Black president and re-elected after less than a full term in the U.S. Senate, is probably not the best messenger to lecture Republicans about how their view of America is wrong.
He has every right to share his viewpoint and disagree with Scott.
However, he should not be surprised if conservatives do not take his comments seriously considering his own story.
