For years, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has been an outspoken opponent of critical race theory and its fatalistic view of black America.

If Martin Luther King Jr. hoped that black people would one day enjoy the full promise their country stands for, critical race theory lectures that there is no hope for progress because of the country’s poor history on race. If MLK had a dream, critical race theory says it’s hopeless.

On Monday, Scott combated that nihilistic message on The View, calling it “dangerous, offensive, disgusting.”

"I’m on the show because of the comments 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,” Scott said.

Scott intoned, “That’s a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people today, that the only way to succeed is by being the exception.”

Scott’s comments were in response to host Sunny Hostin, who, when the senator announced his presidential run last month, said he was an “exception” among black people in terms of being successful. Hostin, who is of black, Jewish, and Puerto Rican heritage, said at the time, "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’s the exception and not the rule. And until he’s the rule, then he can stop talking about systemic racism."

Scott never mentioned critical race theory specifically during his View appearance — and he rarely, if ever, does — but the constant messaging from the hosts, including about him, has increasingly reflected something closer to critical race theory ideology that permeates so much of the Left today.

When Hostin asked Scott on Monday if he believed that systemic racism existed, Scott went through his own history and cited particular achievements of black people, stressing that while there is still much work to be done, there has been progress.

Scott explained, "So what I’m suggesting is that yesterday's exception is today’s rule.”

What Scott really did to make Hostin and others angry was express an alternative view regarding race relations on that show. Despite The View being a place that is supposed to offer left-wing and right-wing points of view, the popular program has increasingly become uniform on various topics.

In her Friday essay in the New York Times, “'The View’ Has Narrowed,” Megan K. Stack noted this trend as a longtime viewer: “If you ask me, the co-hosts don’t argue nearly enough. At least, not substantively. Not anymore. The freewheeling discussions that once evoked a spectrum of American opinion on everything from reproductive rights to foreign policy — those have mostly fallen silent. ‘The View’ has become a chorus of conformity.”

“The title of this show I’ve loved for years used to suggest messy and fearless debate,” Stack added. “Lately, it seems like a command.”

Stack broke down the groupthink: “The hosts include centrist Democrats (Ms. Hostin and Ms. Behar), centrist Republicans (Ms. Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro) and one centrist independent (the TV journalist Sara Haines). But, anyway, they agree. They agree (or at least pretend to agree) that Mr. Biden is basically a good president. Even on topics notorious for splitting American opinion — the need for ‘common-sense gun reform,’ protecting L.G.B.T.Q. rights and funding the war in Ukraine — they don’t find much to debate one another about. Even those who privately consider abortion a sin agree that access should be preserved in some cases.”

When Scott announced his campaign, host Joy Behar, who is white, mocked his upbeat message: “Well isn’t he ‘professor positive.’”

Behar lectured , "He’s one of these guys, like Clarence Thomas, black Republican, who believes in pulling yourself up by your bootstraps rather than understanding the systemic racism that African Americans face in this country and other minorities.”

Yet Scott has directly addressed the realities of racism — just not in the way the hosts of The View want.

“He doesn’t get it, neither does Clarence,” Behar ended — with a telling kicker: “That’s why they’re Republicans.”

Jack Hunter ( @jackhunter74 ) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is the former political editor of Rare.us and co-authored the 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington with Sen. Rand Paul.