NBC News anchor Craig Melvin asked Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., if the GOP is "using" him as a "token" amid the response to George Floyd's death.
Scott has been leading the effort in the Senate among Republican lawmakers in pursuit of police reform. However, the "Today" host questioned whether Scott's party was maximizing the only black GOP senator to its advantage.
"You have faced a fair amount of criticism, especially over the past few days, because you are the only black Republican senator," Melvin said during an interview. "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 appeared to laugh at the question and pushed back at the assertion.
"Well, I am also the only person in my conference who has been racially profiled driving while black," Scott said. "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's been a victim of this situation and who still has a tremendous respect for where our country can go together."
He continued, "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.
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