Meghan McCain decries Tim Scott jabs as ‘racist,’ calls him to run for president

"The View" co-host took issue with Twitter calling Sen. Scott and "Uncle Tom" and slammed President Biden's joint address to Congress for being too progressive

The View co-host Meghan McCain said she was “disgusted” by those who called South Carolina Senator Tim Scott an “Uncle Tom,” following his Republican rebuttal speech to President Joe Biden‘s joint address to Congress Wednesday evening.

Meghan McCain x Sen. Tim Scott
(Photo: ABC/CNN)

Scott, who is the only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, was excoriated on Twitter following his remarks in which he asserted that despite personally experiencing the “pain of discrimination,” America is “not a racist country.”

The junior senator accused Democrats of “making money and gaining power by pretending we haven’t made any progress” and “doubling down on the divisions we’ve worked so hard to heal.”

Read More: Black Twitter drags Sen. Tim Scott for saying America is ‘not a racist country’

Sen. Scott quickly became a trending topic as Twitter users, namely Black Twitter, lambasted him for providing racial cover for the Republican Party. While some critiques went as far as to call him an Uncle Tom, others opted for a more personal touch by calling him “Uncle Tim” — which trended on Twitter before the social media company removed it for going against its policy.

McCain, the daughter of the late former Arizona U.S. Senator John McCain, said the tern used to ridicule Scott had “hurt” and “saddened” her.

“It hurt me, disgusted me, and saddened me, literally ruined my night and ruined my morning because of it,” McCain said on The View‘s Thursday show. “I’m so grossed out by the entire thing.”

What’s more, McCain accused Scott’s critics of being racist themselves. “It’s OK to be racist and use racial slurs toward Black men as long as they are Republicans,” she said, adding “I don’t believe it would’ve happened if he was a Democrat.”

McCain added, “I’m disgusted by the response to him. Hit him on policy if you have policy problems with him, but the way he is being talked about, the way he’s being disrespected, don’t talk to me about micro-aggressions with race in this country.

“Don’t talk to me about the problems we have in this country with racism when it’s OK to speak and treat a Black man this way who happens to be the most famous Republican Black senator in the country.”

At the end of her remarks, McCain also suggested that Scott, 55, run for president in 2024 instead of former South Carolina governor and Trump’s UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is rumored to be running for the Republican presidential nomination.

McCain also had thoughts about President Biden’s Wednesday address, saying that she was “disappointed” in his policy remarks which she decried as too progressive — something she says flies in the face of the centrist position she and many Republicans believed he would take as president.

President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress, with Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on the dais behind him on April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Melina Mara-Pool/Getty Images)

“There was a concern when President Biden was elected that despite his almost 40-year career in Congress as a centrist that he would govern as a progressive — he was sort of this trojan horse for progressive policies. I had faith he wouldn’t be that,” said McCain.

“Seeing what he said last night that faith that has gone completely out the window. This is by far the most progressive speech of any modern president, I think since [Lyndon B. Johnson].”

She added, “The answer to every single problem in America is to write a check and bankrupt my generation in the process … it is very disappointing to the people who had faith in him for running as a centrist.”

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s “Dear Culture” podcast? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku. Download theGrio.com today!

SHARE THIS ARTICLE