Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott was booed by a television audience – and rescued by Whoopi Goldberg – after he defended Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and claimed that American children were being “indoctrinated” on LGBTQ+ issues.
The 57-year-old South Carolina senator also accused the hosts of ABC’s The View of sending a “dangerous, offensive and disgusting message to our young people today,” claiming their success is an exception in a systematically racist society.
The only black Republican in the United States Senate, Scott is the first Black senator elected in a southern state since the Reconstruction period after the Civil War.
He declared his presidential candidacy in May, but has struggled in the polls. The front-runner, former President Donald Trump, enjoys a commanding lead over Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who is far from the rest of the field.
Scott scores in the single digits, as do two Indian-Americans: Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, and Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur.
On Monday, Scott was asked about the feud between DeSantis and Disney, who opposes the state’s so-called “don’t say gay” law regarding teaching in public schools.
He said: “I think Disney and Ron have been in a battle zone for a number of months about what I thought was the right subject for our young children and what they are being indoctrinated with. I thought it started with the right foot on this issue.”
The audience booed. Goldberg chimed in.
“Not here,” said the actor. “I’m sorry, sir. This is La Vista. We shouldn’t believe everything people say, but you can’t boo people here, please. You can’t.”
The audience applauded.
The ABC daytime show regularly generates controversy, often over politics or race. Scott asked to appear after he was criticized to say that systemic racism does not exist.
On Monday, co-host Sunny Hostin, who is black, said: “When it comes to racial inequality, it persists in five basic aspects of life in the US: the economy, education, health care, criminal justice and housing.
“In almost every moment, these achievements were contested, threatened, and often erased by white violence. You have indicated that you do not believe in systemic racism. What is your definition of systemic racism?”
Scott said, “One of the reasons I’m on this show was because of the comments that were made, frankly, on this show, that the only way for a young African-American to succeed in this country is to be the exception and not the rule
“This is a dangerous, offensive and disgusting message to send to our young people today, that the only way to succeed is to be the exception. I will tell you that if my life is the exception, I can’t imagine…
Hostin said, “It is.”
Scott said, “It’s not really.”
Hostin said, “But it is, it’s been 114 years” since Reconstruction.
Scott said, “The fact is, we’ve had an African-American president, an African-American vice president, we’ve had two African-Americans be secretaries of state. In my hometown, the police chief is an African-American now running for the mayor’s office. The chief of the South Carolina Highway Patrol is an African-American.”
In the middle of the conversation, Scott said, “I’ve seen you on the show, you like people to be deferential and respectful, so I’ll do the same.”
Hostin said, “That’s true.”
Scott said “the progress in America is palpable” and spoke of the racism his grandfather experienced, saying he still believed in “the goodness of America because he believed [in] faith in God… and faith in what the future could offer their children”.
Eventually, Goldberg took a break from the show. When the show returned, Hostin and Scott were on arguing.
