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Tim Scott invokes Breonna Taylor, George Floyd in Trump convention speech

by Julia Manchester - 08/24/20 11:26 PM ET

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the only Black Republican in the Senate, invoked the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in his remarks to the Republican National Convention on Monday evening.

“This isn’t how I pictured tonight, but our country is experiencing something none of us envisioned,” Scott said. “From a global pandemic to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, 2020 has tested our nation in ways we haven’t seen for decades.”

The deaths of Floyd and Taylor, along with numerous other unarmed Black Americans, helped spark the nationwide reckoning on racial injustice and police brutality earlier this year.

But Scott, who spearheaded an ultimately unsuccessful police reform bill, offered an optimistic outlook ahead of the election, describing his own experience as an African American.

“While this election is between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, it is not solely about Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Scott said. “It’s about the promise of America. It’s about you and me. Our challenges and heartbreaks, hopes and dreams. It’s about how we respond when tackling critical issues like police reform.”

The senator went on to describe how he was “living his mother’s American dream” after growing up in a poor, single-parent household.

“She knew that if we could find the opportunity, bigger things would come,” he said.

Scott went on to hit Biden’s record on race, pointing to his past comments and record on the 1994 crime bill.

“Joe Biden said if a Black man didn’t vote for him, he wasn’t truly Black. Joe Biden said Black people are a monolithic community. It was Joe Biden who said poor kids can be just as smart as white kids,” he said.

He then praised Trump’s work on criminal justice reform, as well as building “the most inclusive economy ever.”

Scott, along with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, presented a diverse side to the Republican Party, which is often criticized for what critics say is a lack of inclusion.

The senator’s address appeared to be well received by Republicans, including former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy (R), who tweeted “Tim Scott 2024!”