Tim Scott pushes back against Biden’s ‘insulting’ ad targeting Black voters

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) slammed a recent ad from President Biden’s campaign that targets Black voters, calling it “insulting” Sunday while touting former President Trump’s work for the Black community.

When asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” for his reaction to the ad, Scott said, “Well, here’s what I can tell you, is that under Donald Trump, we were better off.”

“There are two things that are driving Black votes back to Donald Trump: jobs and justice. No. 1, under Donald Trump, our wages were going up. Right now, fairness is going down,” he continued.

The ad from the Biden campaign levied a series of attacks against Trump and his treatment of the Black community.

“Donald Trump disrespecting Black folk is nothing new. It’s why Trump stood with violent white supremacists, warned of a blood bath if he loses the next election, and, if he’s president again, vowed to be a dictator who wants revenge on his enemies,” the narrator said in the ad.

Scott on Sunday sought to discredit Biden’s record with the Black community by pointing to the president’s past controversial remarks.

“But if you’re really concerned about racial justice in America, let’s not forget, Joe Biden is the guy that talked about ‘racial jungles’ as a result of desegregation,” Scott said, in an apparent reference to a comment made by Biden in 1977 in which he said “orderly” racial integration policies would cause his children to “grow up in a racial jungle.” 

“Let’s not forget the fact that Joe Biden is the president who said, ‘If you don’t vote for me, you can’t be Black.’ … An old white dude telling me I can’t be Black if I don’t vote for him? This is the president who said … the Republican Party wants to put you back in chains,” he added.

Ahead of the 2020 election, Biden told radio host Charlamagne tha God that if he supports Trump, “then you ain’t Black.”

Scott then accused Biden of backing educational segregation without providing evidence.

“The only person I have seen restraining Black folks economically is the Joe Biden economy. So, I find it quite insulting to suggest that Joe Biden does not have serious concerns, when his own vice president, Kamala Harris, said he supported segregation,” he said.

CNN anchor Dana Bash pressed Scott if claiming Biden supports segregation is a “little too far,” to which he argued the Biden administration has “halted the growth of charter schools that provides greater diversity and opportunities.”

Charter schools are tuition-free public schools that operate as a school of choice and are backed by federal government grants through the Charter Schools Program. The program has received an allocation of $440 million, the same it has received since 2019 under Trump.

Debate has persisted over whether charter schools create more diversity or promote segregation of races. In a study earlier this year from Stanford University and the University of South Carolina, researchers found segregation is “creeping back up again,” in part due to the rise of charter schools, contrary to Scott’s point.

In a statement to The Hill, Democratic National Committe (DNC) spokesperson Marcus Robinson said Scott is “bending over backwards to defend” Trump. 

“If Scott wants to talk about economic records, let’s be clear: President Biden and Vice President Harris have delivered the lowest Black unemployment rate in history and cut Black child poverty in half, grown Black wealth, and made record investments in Black small businesses,” Robinson said. 

“While Trump and Scott tout the failed MAGA agenda that left Black Americans unemployed, uninsured, and underserved, the Biden-Harris administration is delivering for Black communities — and will continue to every day,” he added. 

Recent polls have shown the incumbent losing support among Black voters, a crucial demographic for his reelection.

One poll from the New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer, released earlier this month, found Biden leading Trump among Black voters, 63 percent to 23 percent. This is a significant decrease from the 87 percent of Black voters who voted for Biden in 2020.

Scott, who has suspended his own GOP presidential bid, has been floated as one of Trump’s potential picks for vice president. He has appeared with the former president on the campaign trail in recent months and is expected to appear next month at an event alongside several political mega-donors.

Updated May 29 at 8:55 a.m. EDT