Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) sparred with The View host Sunny Hostin on Monday over the topic of systemic racism in America.
On Monday's episode of the talk show, the hosts criticized the South Carolina senator for ignoring systemic racism.
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“I think one of the issues that Tim Scott has, is that he seems to think, ‘Because I made it, everyone can make it.’ Ignoring again, the fact that he is the exception and not the rule. And until he is the rule — then he can stop talking about systemic racism,” Hostin said last month after Scott's campaign launch.
“He has Clarence Thomas syndrome,” Whoopi Goldberg said at the time.
According to the senator, "One of the reasons why I’m on the show is because of the comments that were made, frankly, on this show that the only way for a young African American kid to be successful in this country is to be the exception and not the rule."
"That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people today that the only way to succeed is by being the exception. I will tell you that if my life is the exception, I can’t imagine," he said.
"But it is," Hostin interjected.
"But it’s not actually," the senator replied.
"The fact of the matter is we’ve had an African American president, African American vice president, we’ve had two African Americans to be secretaries of the state. In my home city, the police chief is an African American who’s now running for mayor. The head of the highway patrol for South Carolina is an African American," he said.
"In 1975, there was about 15% unemployment in the African American community. For the first time in the history of the country, it’s under 5%," Scott said.
Scott further told the hosts, "Progress in America is palpable. It can be measured in generations."
"I look back at the fact that my grandfather, born in 1921 in Salley, South Carolina, when he was on a sidewalk and a white person was coming, he had to step off and not make eye contact," the presidential candidate said. "That man believed then, with some doubt now, in the goodness of America, because he believed that having faith in God, faith in himself, and faith in what the future could hold for his kids would unleash opportunities in ways that you cannot imagine."
The senator then pointed to the main news channels, noting that they "all have African American and Hispanic hosts."
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"What I’m suggesting is that yesterday’s exception is today’s rule," he said.
Scott is polling at 3% among potential Republican primary voters after announcing his campaign last month. According to Morning Consult, former President Donald Trump is the front-runner with 56%.