Following Monday’s 2020 RNC address from Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), ABC and CBS had praise for Scott’s “classic,” “compelling,” “optimistic,” “personal,” and “positive” remarks, but they pivoted to smearing Scott by appearing to question his commitment to race relations.
His crime? In the eyes of ABC and CBS, Scott didn’t talk about the Jacob Blake case, didn’t acknowledge the coronavirus pandemic’s affect on minorities, and refused to say economic empowerment won’t keep black people from being killed by police. In other words, it was all but the exact opposite of their reaction to Michelle Obama's speech last week keynoting night one of the DNC.
Nightline co-host Byron Pitts praised Scott’s “personal and positive” speech as having been presented in “a positive, eloquent, kind way” with “a nod to the Lord” that argued “there is room in Donald Trump's Republican Party for brown and black people.”
But Pitts saw a big issue, arguing that talk of jobs won’t stop police officers from killing black people:
He talked about opportunities and employment, but you know, George, when he said that, I thought about Breonna Taylor. Breonna Taylor had a good job, but that didn't keep her — didn't keep her alive. Botham Jean had a good job in Texas and he lost his life. So, I think it's a compelling argument, it's a positive spin, but I think there are some questions as to how far it will resonate in brown and black communities.
Meanwhile, CBS Evening News anchor showed her bias by holding off on hearing from former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus. Instead, she first sought comment from former Obama official Joel Payne.
Payne conceded that “Scott gave a very impassioned speech and he talked about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd” before condemning his refusal to talk about Blake (even though we don’t know the exact details of what happened).
Claiming he was speaking “as a black man” instead of as a Democrat, Payne ruled it was “a curious oversight” by Scott and thus he declined “to speak to me...to show that kind of compassion, to demonstrate that something wrong happened and that the President and that his party cares about that.”
O’Donnell echoed Payne in grilling Priebus and condemning Scott for not spending enough of his speech on racism. To Priebus’s credit, he more than pushed back and steered things back to substance (click “expand”):
O’DONNELL: You know, it’s interesting, Reince, on that point, not mentioning what is in the news from your hometown in Kenosha what happened to Jacob Blake shot allegedly by police seven times in the back, you can see in the video, and — but also Tim Scott, I mean he has said he’s been pulled over 18 times. He even changed his license plate to have senator on the back so it might signal not to pull him over. He counseled the president, the President’s taken down a tweet. He talked to him after Charlottesville and the comments the President made there, why not share those type of stories tonight.
PREIBUS: Well, I thought Tim Scott did a magnificent job. I think he’s what is great about our country. I think he should be the poster senator for this President and help him to victory in 2020 if he can. But highlighting the First Step Act, criminal justice reform, $360 million to HBCU to help historically black colleges and universities, black and Hispanic unemployment numbers pre-coronavirus, and opportunity zones, all subject that I don't think the President feels he gets a lot of credit for and that is what Tim Scott did tonight. Again, back to the compassion, back to the suburban voters.
O’Donnell continue this lecturing of a black conservative by griping to former Univision anchor Maria Elena Salinas that viewers “didn't hear...a lot about COVID-19 or coronavirus which has disproportionately affected African-Americans and Latinos.”
“Exactly. He didn't talk about now but in the first hour which we didn't air...but you are right, I think he — the whole evening left out Latinos and African Americans that have been the most affected by coronavirus,” she replied.
As we alluded to, there was praise as well. ABC chief anchor and former Clinton flack George Stephanopoulos trumpeted Scott’s remarks as “a classic keynote speech” that was “personal,” “optimistic,” and “talked about believing in the goodness of America.”
ABC News Live host Linsey Davis pointed to Scott’s “compelling case” against Joe Biden in listing negative comments about African-Americans and offering “a powerful line when he talked about his family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime.”
Along with Chris Christie, even former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) had nice things to say (click “expand”):
EMANUEL: I do want to say one other thing about Senator Scott's speech. It stands out as a powerful speech because it was expansive and inclusive in its nature. Everything prior to that was all base, all the time, 24 hours and that was a very good speech. He delivered a good speech that was expansive and inclusive and if they stay to that message, which hasn't happened to date, with all the other prior speakers, you're going to have a powerful piece and it was beyond the base. That was the first time and I think it’s — the contrast was so stark, it’s what made it a good speech.
(....)
CHRISTIE: I’ll say one other thing about Tim Scott tonight, he did give a very good speech tonight. He is a future star of this you party and let us remember. When we keep saying Tim Scott is the only black Republican in the Senate, there are only two black Democrats in the Senate, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris[.]
As for NBC, Scott fetched only 79 seconds of dispassionate analysis before moving onto previewing Tuesday’s schedule. Scott should take that as a sign that he hit a home run seeing as how the peacock network wanted so little to do with his speech.
The questioning of Scott's commitment to race relations was made possible on ABC and CBS by advertisers such as Claritin, Ford, Liberty Mutual, and Walmart. Follow the links to the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from August 24, click “expand.”
ABC’s The Republican National Convention -- Your Voice/Your Vote 2020
August 24, 2020
10:53 p.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: No crowd for Tim Scott, but that was a classic keynote speech here at this Republican convention. He talked about believing in the goodness of America. He did take some shots at Joe Biden, no question about that, but in some ways, the most personal and the most optimistic speech so far of the night, Byron Pitts.
BYRON PITTS: George, that's right. It was personal and positive. He's an evangelical Christian, so certainly he gave a nod to the Lord. It’s interesting. In Donald Trump's Republican Party, Tim Scott is their Kamala Harris. They’re — he has comparable historic heft. He is the only black Republican senator in the U.S. Senate. He's the first black Repub — senator from the south since Reconstruction and he's talked about some of the things that Joe Biden has said, Senator Scott was one of the people, Republicans, who quickly came out and criticized President Trump after his comments about Charlottesville, when the President posted that — that white power statement, Scott also criticized him. So, he makes the case for Donald Trump and as you said, George, he made it in a positive, eloquent, kind way, that there is room in Donald Trump's Republican Party for brown and black people. We'll see how effective it is. He talked about opportunities and employment, but you know, George, when he said that, I thought about Breonna Taylor. Breonna Taylor had a good job, but that didn't keep her — didn't keep her alive. Botham Jean had a good job in Texas and he lost his life. So, I think it's a compelling argument, it's a positive spin, but I think there are some questions as to how far it will resonate in brown and black communities.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That's what we're going to be watching in the coming days. And Linsey Davis, as I said, he did take some shots at Joe Biden, including the comments that Joe Biden made, paraphrasing them, that have caused consternation in the black community.
LINSEY DAVIS: First, I just want to say he had a powerful line when he talked about his family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime. But then he did lay out what he described as Joe Biden's failures. Very swiftly, 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. Joe Biden said poor kids can be just as smart as white kids. He went on and on and really made a compelling case. President Trump is, after all, though, a President who has said that he's done more from the black community than anyone and more from the black community than any other president, a statement that has been debunked.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah. Right now, Donald Trump is getting about eight percent of the black vote. Joe Biden about 87 percent.
(....)
RAHM EMANUEL: I do want to say one other thing about Senator Scott's speech. It stands out as a powerful speech because it was expansive and inclusive in its nature. Everything prior to that was all base, all the time, 24 hours and that was a very good speech. He delivered a good speech that was expansive and inclusive and if they stay to that message, which hasn't happened to date, with all the other prior speakers, you're going to have a powerful piece and it was beyond the base. That was the first time and I think it’s — the contrast was so stark, it’s what made it a good speech.
(....)
CHRIS CHRISTIE: I’ll say one other thing about Tim Scott tonight, he did give a very good speech tonight. He is a future star of this you party and let us remember. When we keep saying Tim Scott is the only black Republican in the Senate, there are only two black Democrats in the Senate, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and —
EMANUEL: It’s 100% better.
CHRISTIE: — congratulations, Rahm.
EMANUEL: Just want to do the math for you.
—
CBS News: 2020 America Decides: Republican Convention
August 24, 2020
10:53 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Tim Scott, the Republican's most powerful black lawmaker in Congress, delivering a compassionate message about where Donald Trump would take the next four years. Let's go back to chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, who is outside the Mellon Auditorium there. Major, what did you make of his remarks?
MAJOR GARRETT: So, Why were Nikki Haley and Tim Scott chosen for such prominent roles? To try to deflect some of the worst impressions that independents and suburban Republican voters have about the president. Focus group after focus group, internally in Republican headquarters show they tuned out the president, they’re exhausted by him. So, Tim Scott and Nikki Haley said, let's take Trump out of it for a second, think about your own economic future, think about this idea of cancel culture, think about law and order. Republican Party polls also tell them those three issues are central to what decision those independents who have turned against President Trump and those slightly attached suburban Republicans will make. Those two voices tonight tried to pull that message together, taking Trump out of it but putting the policies front and center.
O’DONNELL: Alright, Joel Payne, do tonight's remarks by either of those two lawmakers and former lawmakers win over any Democrats?
JOEL PAYNE: I doubt it and look, I doubt it was designed it do that. As I said before, you know, the Republican strategy here is to heat up debate. It’s really not to reach out. A couple of things I want to point out. One, you know, Tim Scott gave a very impassioned speech and he talked about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. He didn't mention Jacob Blake which is curious to me, that is in the news today. Of course, many of your viewers will probably know that is the Wisconsin man who was shot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, by police in the back seven times, very similar, frankly, to a number of other police-involved shooting we have heard of. And I guess, from my perspective not just as a Democrat or political strategist but as a black man, if a party is trying to speak to me that feels like an opportune moment to show that kind of compassion, to demonstrate that something wrong happened and that the President and that his party cares about that, so that was a curious oversight on my part.
O’DONNELL: You know, it’s interesting, Reince, on that point, not mentioning what is in the news from your hometown in Kenosha what happened to Jacob Blake shot allegedly by police seven times in the back, you can see in the video, and — but also Tim Scott, I mean he has said he’s been pulled over 18 times. He even changed his license plate to have senator on the back so it might signal not to pull him over. He counseled the president, the President’s taken down a tweet. He talked to him after Charlottesville and the comments the President made there, why not share those type of stories tonight.
REINCE PREIBUS: Well, I thought Tim Scott did a magnificent job. I think he’s what is great about our country. I think he should be the poster senator for this President and help him to victory in 2020 if he can. But highlighting the First Step Act, criminal justice reform, $360 million to HBCU to help historically black colleges and universities, black and Hispanic unemployment numbers pre-coronavirus, and opportunity zones, all subject that I don't think the President feels he gets a lot of credit for and that is what Tim Scott did tonight. Again, back to the compassion, back to the suburban voters.
O’DONNELL: I didn't hear, Maria Elena, a lot about COVID-19 or coronavirus which has disproportionately affected African-Americans and Latinos.
MARIA ELENA SALINAS: And Latinos. Exactly. He didn't talk about now but in the first hour which we didn't air but the first hour of the convention there was a lot of talk about COVID-19 and sort of like saying everything that the President has done. Now we heard Donald Trump, Jr. — did talk about that and said my father made sure that every hospital had PPEE. He called it PP&E. But that is a bit of an inaccuracy because as we know, President Trump told states fend for yourselves, you figure out how to get that PPE on your own, but you are right, I think he — the whole evening left out Latinos and African Americans that have been the most affected by coronavirus.
PRIEBUS: Well, the President interviewed people on the front lines fighting COVID earlier in the 9:00 hour. So I don't think it was completely left out of the program. But just between 10 and 11:00 of your story.
O’DONNELL: But the President's leadership will be judged on his response to COVID, you agree with that.
PRIEBUS: I think it will be judged and I don't necessarily agree that he let the states out on their own and didn't provide any PP&E. I mean, there were — ventilators were put there,
SALINAS: Yeah, eventually they did.
PRIEBUS: — the Navy ship was there, there was no ventilator problem. I mean come on, I think it is a little oversimplification.
O’DONNELL: Governor Hogan has said they were left without federal leadership on the issue when it comes to mask and protective gear.
—
NBC Republican National Convention
August 24, 2020
10:53 p.m. EasternHOLT: Kristen, he seemed to be trying to change the narrative about race in this country.
KRISTEN WELKER: He was, Lester. I think that's absolutely right and I thought it was notable. He was making the broader argument of this convention that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will turn the United States into a socialist country through the prism of race, though and looking back at Joe Biden's policies, notable that he raised the 1994 crime bill. I can tell you that a lot of the President's allies think that he should be spending more time talking about Joe Biden's record. Joe Biden would say that was passed with bipartisan support and, of course, there are pieces of it that we would do differently now. But he also hit Biden on some of the flubs he has had in recent weeks on the issue of race that Biden, himself, has apologized for. Of course, Tim Scott is such a significant voice. He's the only black GOP senator. He's someone who has chosen his words on race quite carefully when it comes to the President. He will speak out when he thinks the President has done something that is offensive. He could help win over a few African-American voters, but broader context here, right now Joe Biden leads with African-American voters more than 80 percent. President Trump right now registering in the single digits. Lester.
