During a contentious interview with Republican South Carolina Senator Tim Scott on Thursday, NBC’s 3rd Hour Today show co-host Craig Melvin wondered if the only black GOP member of the U.S. Senate was being “used” by his party as a “token” to lead policing reform efforts in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Scott promptly rejected the insulting suggestion.
After allowing the Senator to briefly outline the Republican proposal for police reform, Melvin launched his nasty attack: “Senator, you have faced a fair amount of criticism, especially over the past few days, because you are the only black Republican senator, some have said that your party is using you, they’ve even thrown around the word ‘token,’ as well. Your response to that criticism?”
Scott pushed back hard at the dismissive insinuation:
Well, I am also the only person in my conference who has been racially profiled, driving while black. I’m the only one in my conference that’s been stopped seven times in one year as an elected official, perhaps the only one in my conference wearing this senate pin that was stopped from coming into the building. So if there’s someone in the conference who understands discrimination and profiling, it’s me. It’s the reason why I asked to lead this charge, because it is a personal issue, it is the right issue. And frankly, I think it helps to have someone who has been a victim of this situation and who still has a tremendous respect for where our country can go together. So I shrug those comments and criticisms off. But you’ve got to know, when you’re a black Republican, you’re like a unicorn. People are going to criticize you when you wake up, when you go to sleep. If you say you like apple pie and football, there’s a lot of critics for that, too. So God bless their souls.
It’s interesting that during a softball interview with Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker on Wednesday, about him leading his party’s push for police reform, Melvin never asked if Booker’s white liberal colleagues in the Senate were using him as “token.”
After Scott’s response on Thursday, fellow co-host Al Roker jumped in and tried to push the Republican to denounce President Trump:
Well, Senator, let me ask you this, the President just announcing that he’s gonna host a rally next week, Tulsa, Oklahoma, where hundreds of African-Americans were killed during racial unrest in 1921, and on Juneteenth, the day that folks mark the end of slavery in this country. Also rejecting the idea of removing confederate statues – or names, I should say – from military bases. You’re from a state where a lot of the statues are common, a lot of statues coming down. Do you think the President is listening to the conversation, and how do you feel about confederate statues being removed?
Scott replied in part: “I’d like to spend as much energy about monuments – that is an important conversation – I’d love to spend an equal amount of energy talking about school choice and public and charter schools. I’d love to spend more time talking about issues that make a better future, as much as we are looking in the past.”
As the segment wrapped up, Melvin cast doubt on the ability of the Senate to get anything done, remarking: “Alright, we didn’t get a chance to talk about the anti-lynching component, but we’ll bring you back....you guys couldn’t get that passed last week. We can’t even get U.S. Senators to agree on what constitutes lynching.” Scott immediately corrected him:
Well, actually, that’s not accurate. We have already passed this legislation twice in the Senate....There is a debate on the floor, but that is an inconsistent and inaccurate statement. We passed it in the Senate, I hope that the House would just take up our bill and pass it. In the House bill, they actually have the exact legislation that we passed in the Senate. I think we’ll get it done if we can come to the same table....that bill has already been passed. So I think we should focus on getting this done, because it is so important to our country, after 200 failures on anti-lynching, we’re right at the goal line. I hope we get it across the line.
Melvin concluded: “Alright, I didn’t mean to get in the weeds there with you, Senator....For a second there, it was starting to feel like MSNBC, instead of NBC.”
The amount of liberal rhetoric from Melvin and Roker in the exchange certainly sounded like MSNBC. There doesn’t appear to be a line between the left-wing cable channel and the broadcast network anymore.
Here is a full transcript of the June 11 interview:
9:05 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: With the issue of police reform now a top priority in Washington, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina is taking the lead for Republicans in the Senate. He joins us now from Washington. Senator Scott, good morning to you, sir
SEN. TIM SCOTT [R-SC]: Good morning, thanks for having me.
MELVIN: It’s called the Justice Act package, as I understand it. I know that you’ve been in talks with the White House, specifically Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law and senior adviser, the acting chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well. What is that package going to look like? When might we see it?
SCOTT: Well, we’ve been talking to Democrats and the White House because this is an issue whose time has come. Bottom line, within the package, we work on body cameras, more notification, grants on de-escalating the aggression that we see caught on videos, we look at the use of force. We have a commission to study some of the issues. We also talk about the duty to intervene. The three officers that were standing there as the one officer was on Mr. Floyd’s neck, we think that there should be a duty to intervene. So we’re trying to provide the resources necessary to retrain these local departments, as well as provide more incentives for policies to change. If we do that part, we will make a difference.
I’ve been working on this since Walter Scott was shot in the back five times, and the police report said something exactly the opposite. So if we’re going to make progress, let’s not lose this moment I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I’m sad that it takes another death to get here. But if we're doing our jobs and we’re doing it right, and it’s not the Republicans and Democrats, it’s Americans working together to solve a serious issue that has been running rampant throughout communities of color for far too long.
MELVIN: Walter Scott, of course, the man who was running away from the North Charleston police officer when he was shot in the back.
Senator, you have faced a fair amount of criticism, especially over the past few days, because you are the only black Republican senator, some have said that your party is using you, they’ve even thrown around the word “token,” as well. Your response to that criticism?
SCOTT: Well, I am also the only person in my conference who has been racially profiled, driving while black. I’m the only one in my conference that’s been stopped seven times in one year as an elected official, perhaps the only one in my conference wearing this senate pin that was stopped from coming into the building. So if there’s someone in the conference who understands discrimination and profiling, it’s me. It’s the reason why I asked to lead this charge, because it is a personal issue, it is the right issue. And frankly, I think it helps to have someone who has been a victim of this situation and who still has a tremendous respect for where our country can go together. So I shrug those comments and criticisms off. But you’ve got to know, when you’re a black Republican, you’re like a unicorn. People are going to criticize you when you wake up, when you go to sleep. If you say you like apple pie and football, there’s a lot of critics for that, too. So God bless their souls.
AL ROKER: Well, Senator, let me ask you this, the President just announcing that he’s gonna host a rally next week, Tulsa, Oklahoma, where hundreds of African-Americans were killed during racial unrest in 1921, and on Juneteenth, the day that folks mark the end of slavery in this country. Also rejecting the idea of removing confederate statues – or names, I should say – from military bases. You’re from a state where a lot of the statues are common, a lot of statues coming down. Do you think the President is listening to the conversation, and how do you feel about confederate statues being removed?
SCOTT: Well, I certainly think the states have an opportunity to look at where the statues are. And if they’re on public property, they should have a serious conversation about that. As you’ll remember, in 2015, we were able to remove the confederate flag from the top of the state dome, that was the right decision. I’ll give that to the states and let them move that forward. And if we do it right, we can bring this country together and unify it. If we do it wrong, then we’ll be talking about the past. I’d like to spend as much energy about monuments -- that is an important conversation -- I’d love to spend an equal amount of energy talking about school choice and public and charter schools. I’d love to spend more time talking about issues that make a better future, as much as we are looking in the past.
MELVIN: But, Senator, you do recognize –
ROKER: But what about the President? What about the President’s Juneteenth rally, and his choice of these things?
SCOTT: Well, Al, that’s a good question. I would certainly say that the more diverse our staffs, the more we avoid these public issues that come about. So I don’t have a good answer for that because I’m not on his staff and I don’t know what his plan is.
MELVIN: Are you going to be in Dallas today for the speech, Senator?
SCOTT: I am not. I’m working here in Washington on the Justice Act, I’m trying to get Republicans and Democrats to come together, our bill has some of the Democrat priorities in the bill. And so, I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to make a push next week on this package.
MELVIN: No-knock warrants, choke-holds, are they part of your package, as well?
SCOTT: Yeah, we do address no-knock warrants by bringing in more information around those. One of the things we’ve created is the Breonna Taylor Reporting Act, that requires all the agencies to provide us with more information. There is a suggestion that they’re not used very often. I think that suggestion will be proven false if we can get the information. It’s the exact same concern I had around the Walter Scott shooting, when you see the police report, it is so inconsistent with what happened, that when we’re talking about making decisions, we have really incomplete information. And we need that information. But, yes, we will start addressing some of these issues. We’ll provide more grants, more resources for those departments that want to train, and I think we should reduce the grants for those departments that do not want to train. And the last thing is that there are people within the conference who are working heavily on when we see the no-knock warrants and/or the choke-holds as a part of the legislation, different factions on the Democrat side and Republican side, trying to find the common ground to move it forward.
MELVIN: Senator, really quickly here, as you know, there’s also this – there’s this movement afoot in a lot of cities and states, as well, to reallocate money for police departments, taking some of the tens of millions, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars, from law enforcement and redirecting that money to social programs, community programs, education programs, that you just mentioned. What do you say to folks who are spearheading that effort?
SCOTT: Well, I’d say, I’d tap the brakes. You can do two things at one time. One, you have to continue to provide necessary resources to our police departments, but we may need to take a look at what should be included in that funding. As an example, my conversations with legislators on both sides of the aisle, mental health is a major component that can’t be really addressed by a law enforcement officer. That needs to be addressed by a social worker or a mental health expert. Perhaps there’s an opportunity for us to include, in police departments, more mental health experts. I would increase funding for that, not decrease funding for that. It’s one of the ways that we could solve some of the problems, and giving those resources so that we can have more experts coming to the door when necessary, especially when it’s an a habitual home that’s calling over and over again. Local law enforcement know the folks in the communities, that would give us a chance for both folks, the suspect and the officer, to go home and be so in a healthy way.
MELVIN: Alright, we didn’t get a chance to talk about the anti-lynching component, but we’ll bring you back –
SCOTT: Yes, that’s in the bill, too.
MELVIN: I know, I know.
SCOTT: It’s got to be there.
MELVIN: But you guys couldn’t get that passed last week.
SCOTT: Absolutely.
MELVIN: We can’t even get U.S. Senators to agree on what constitutes lynching.
SCOTT: Well, actually, that’s not accurate. We have already passed this legislation twice in the Senate.
MELVIN: Well, the amendment, though –
SCOTT: There is a debate on the floor, but that is an inconsistent and inaccurate statement. We passed it in the Senate, I hope that the House would just take up our bill and pass it. In the house bill, they actually have the exact legislation that we passed in the Senate. I think we’ll get it done if we can come to the same table.
MELVIN: You are correct, it has passed in the Senate.
SCOTT: Yes, sir.
MELVIN: But I think we’re talking about the amendment that was put up by the Senator from Kentucky.
SCOTT: Listen, I think he should withdraw the amendment, but that bill has already been passed. So I think we should focus on getting this done, because it is so important to our country, after 200 failures on anti-lynching, we’re right at the goal line. I hope we get it across the line.
MELVIN: Alright, I didn’t mean to get in the weeds there with you, Senator.
SCOTT: No, no, it’s all good, it’s all good.
MELVIN: For a second there, it was starting to feel like MSNBC, instead of NBC. Senator Tim Scott. Senator, thank you, always good to see you, sir.
SCOTT: Let’s do this again
MELVIN: Let’s do it.
