CNN This Morning co-host did not explicitly say that Sen. Tim Scott, the Senate’s lone black Republican who is now running for president, undermines the interests of African-Americans on Tuesday’s show, but it was heavily implied as she lamented that “he has opposed civil rights” laws and the DEI racket.
On with Sidner to discuss were liberal podcaster Errol Louis and The Root senior reporter Jessica Washington. Louis acknowledged that Scott has an inspiration life story that could appeal to people, but “When he talks about personal responsibility as the engine that got him there, you know, I mean, Democrats can, if they do decide to engage him, turn around and say, well, listen, you know, you’ve got a lot of poverty in your state.”
Louis predicted that a nice story won’t be sufficient to see Scott elected president, “It's nice to give people lectures about personal responsibility, but you could also try raising the minimum wage or improving what is ranked as the sixth worst school system in the whole country.”
It's one thing for a liberal panelist to criticize a Republican’s economic policies. It is quite another for an allegedly non-partisan host to play the race card, but that is what Sidner did, “Yeah, there are some other things that Tim Scott has come out against. Being the only black American right now that is in the Senate as a Republican, he has opposed civil rights laws, he has made it more difficult and increasingly targeting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.”
What “civil rights” laws does Scott oppose? Sidner didn’t say. She just uncritically accepted the left’s framing that their preferred bills—presumably those relating to elections and voting—are about civil rights and that DEI is a good thing.
She then asked Washington, “So, within his own party, and even the Democratic Party, because if Democrats fear him the most, the idea is that some Democrats may vote for him because of his story. Does that work? Does that make sense?”
Washington didn’t think so as she accused Scott of trying to message to allegedly racist parts of the GOP base without explicitly doing so, "I think it's really difficult to try to understand what lane Tim Scott would take up, because he's talking, you know, he's almost kind of invoking this welfare queens nostalgia, talking about, you know, this victimhood mentality, kind of bringing back these things, very targeted ways of kind of talking about poverty, kind of ways of talking about race without talking about race.”
She ultimately predicted Scott’s campaign would go nowhere as liberals won’t support him, but neither will “Trumpian” voters.
This segment was sponsored by Sling.
Here is a transcript for the May 23 show:
CNN This Morning
5/23/2023
7:27 PM ET
ERROL LOUIS: When he talks about personal responsibility as the engine that got him there, you know, I mean, Democrats can, if they do decide to engage him, turn around and say, well, listen, you know, you’ve got a lot of poverty in your state. It's nice to give people lectures about personal responsibility, but you could also try raising the minimum wage or improving what is ranked as the sixth worst school system in the whole country.
SARA SIDNER: Yeah, there are some other things that Tim Scott has come out against. Being the only black American right now that is in the Senate as a Republican, he has opposed civil rights laws, he has made it more difficult and increasingly targeting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies. So, within his own party, and even the Democratic Party, because if Democrats fear him the most, the idea is that some Democrats may vote for him because of his story. Does that work? Does that make sense?
JESSICA WASHINGTON: I think it's really difficult to try to understand what lane Tim Scott would take up, because he's talking, you know, he's almost kind of invoking this welfare queens nostalgia, talking about, you know, this victimhood mentality, kind of bringing back these things, very targeted ways of kind of talking about poverty, kind of ways of talking about race without talking about race.
So, I think it's hard to imagine him capturing particularly white liberals or black voters with that kind of talk. But then you also think, okay, is he going to get the Trumpist, because he's not a Trumpian candidate.
SIDNER: Right.
WASHINGTON: So, who is Tim Scott for?
