‘Winning at all costs’: Sen. Tim Scott rails Dems over crying ‘racist’ to get their way

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott criticized Democrats over their support for ditching the long-standing filibuster rule now that they essentially control all of Congress and the White House after years of stating their support for keeping it.

The South Carolina Republican made his comments on “Fox News Primetime” after host Brian Kilmeade played clips of then-Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden both voicing support for keeping the filibuster when Republicans controlled both chambers and the White House.

Kilmeade also played a clip of Scott lamenting Democrats who filibustered a police reform bill last year as riots and unrest stemming from the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis rocked several major U.S. cities.

From the floor of the Senate, Scott said, “I lost a vote on a piece of legislation that would have led to systemic change in the relationship between the communities of color and the law enforcement community. … My friends on the other side just said no. Not ‘no’ to the legislation, they just said no.”

(Video: Fox News)

Asked to respond, Scott told Kilmeade he recalled that floor speech well.

“Here’s what we know about the Democrats,” Scott said. “They were for the filibuster before they were against the filibuster. I keep asking myself, ‘Will the real Chuck Schumer please stand up?’ Is it the one who was for the filibuster or is it the new one who is now against filibuster?”

He went on to note that now Democrats and their left-wing supporters have begun to refer to the filibuster in racist terms, with Obama last summer calling it a “relic” of the Jim Crow era.

Scott said that Democrats “use the word ‘racist’ whenever they are trying to scare people into their corner. It has nothing to do with race. But they don’t care. Winning at all costs means losing at some point.”

Kilmeade responded by noting that the tactic works for average Americans, mostly whites, who shy away and back down, generally speaking, when they are called racists.

The host also said that he went back and reviewed the voting record for Scott’s law enforcement reform measure, noting that Sen. Angus King of Maine, an Independent who often caucuses with Democrats, then-Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) voted for it. 

He also pointed out that Scott offered to allow Democrats to make several amendments to the bill, even appealing to Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and then-Sen. Kamala Harris of California, but then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would not let them support it.

“You wrote something to pass and they refused to make that happen,” Kilmeade pointed out.

“I offered them 10 amendments to start, then I went to 20, then I said a wrap-around amendment. They literally did not want the American people to see the police reform bill,” Scott replied. “Why? Because we treated officers with respect, and at the same time we were improving the relationship between law enforcement officers and communities of color.”

“It’s not a binary choice. You can actually improve the quality of life for minorities [while] at the same time protect the law enforcement officers,” Scott said.

Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about Biden’s 2005 support for the filibuster during a press conference on Friday, a question which she appeared to dodge.

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