UGH: NBC hosts asks Sen. Tim Scott if the GOP is using him as a “token”

NBC host Craig Melvin had the nerve to ask Senator Tim Scott if the GOP was using him as a “token” on the issue on police reforms, as if it were a legitimate criticism:

 
Here’s more from Newsbusters:

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.

Republicans can never win with the media. If McConnell hadn’t picked Scott to lead the effort to craft this legislation, Republicans would have been mocked for not picking the one black Senator who’s been racially profiled to do it. But since McConnell did pick Scott, the media has to go with the ‘token’ line of attack.

Jonathan Turley was incensed that Melvin asked such a question, noting he would never ask the same question of Cory Booker or Kamala Harris:

NBC anchor Craig Melvin asked Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., if the GOP is “using” him as a “token.” It is the latest addition to the collection of questions only to be asked of Republicans. Imagine the response if that question was asked of Booker or Harris…

…Melvin prefaced his question with “because you are the only black Republican senator.” Note there are only two black Democratic senators. Yet, the conservative of the three is the one who is grilled over whether he is a “token,” rather than a legitimate leader in his own right.

He’s absolutely right. This question would have never happened to any black Democrat, regardless of the fact that there are only two in the Senate, as Scott pointed out the other day. I do think Scott answer the question with class, however, and I’m glad he’s leading the Senate on this.


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