The only black Republican Senator, Tim Scott of South Carolina, has denounced a video that was shared by President Trump on Twitter on Sunday morning where one pro-Trump protester could be heard yelling ‘white power.’
Scott admitted to watching the clip in its entirety which he described it as ‘terrible’ and ‘inappropriate.’
‘The truth of the matter is when you hear things like that racist chant towards white power, we should have the same response with the same type of energy that we have for those folks we know have been disadvantaged for so long,’ Scott said on CBS Face The Nation.
U.S. Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, said Donald Trump’s retweet of a video containing a white power message was offensive
‘We should stand up and say that’s not right. And I’m saying the exact same thing now.
The video was posted to Twitter by another user on Saturday and shows two-minutes of clashes between citizens of The Villages, a massive age-restricted community in Sumter, Florida, between pro-Trump demonstrators and senior counter protesters denouncing the president.
The golf-carts full of supporters paraded as the country continues in its second month of unrest as confrontations ensue between civil rights protesters and law enforcements.
The White House claimed the president did not hear the ‘white power’ comment and was instead focused on the support he was witnessing from citizens of the Florida senior community.
‘He did not hear the one statement made on the video,’ White House spokesman Judd Deere told NBC News. ‘What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.’
The ‘white power’ comments was shouted just eight seconds into the video.
‘This is really not about the president taking it down. This is about the judgment of the president in putting it up,’ Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund said on Face the Nation. ‘It is about what the president believes. And it is time for this country to really face that.’
‘Thank you to the great people of The Villages,’ Trump posted Sunday alongside the video. ‘The Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats will Fall in the Fall. Corrupt Joe is shot. See you soon!!!’
Trump has since taken the post down.
Toward the beginning of the video, one senior citizen protesting for Trump yells ‘White Power,’ as he golf-cart passenger chants ‘Trump.’
‘There you go, white power. Did you hear that?’ a counter protester standing by the side of the procession responded in awe.
He deleted the tweet after outcry on social media – including from those within his own party.
Scott also spoke on CNN Sunday morning before the video had been removed.
‘There’s no question, he should not have retweeted and he should just take it down,’ the South Carolina senator said.
Donald Trump posted a video Sunday morning – and subsequently deleted the tweet – of senior citizen supporters clashing with senior citizen counter protesters in The Village age-restricted community in Florida
One Trump supporter in the golf cart parade yelled ‘white power’ about eight seconds into the video as he held up a fist at senior-citizen counter protesters by the side of the road
A particularly passionate counter protesters (here in black), stepped in front of some golf carts and called the supporters ‘Nazis’ and ‘terrorists’
The president deleted the tweet as he heads to his golf resort in Sterling, Virginia for golf Sunday afternoon
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is joining the president for his golf outing
‘Does it offend you, though?’ State of the Union host Jake Tapper asked Scott. ‘I mean, it offends me – and I’m white.’
‘You can’t play it, because it was so profanity-laced. The entire thing was offensive – particularly the comment about white power was offensive.’ Scott claimed. ‘We can play politics with it, or we can’t. I’m not going to.’
‘It is indefensible, we should take it down,’ he continued.
Trump will travel to Jacksonville, Florida in August for the Republican National Committee Convention where he will give a speech accepting his renomination as the Republican candidate.
The convention was moved to Florida from North Carolina after Democrats would not permit the RNC to give the president his desired crowd for his coronation.
Piers Morgan, once an avid defender of the president, also bashed Trump for the tweet.
‘One of those ‘great people’ shouts ‘WHITE POWER!’ Are you endorsing that, Mr President?’ the British broadcast journalist tweeted.
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, the sole black Republican in the Senate, called for Trump to take down the tweet
British broadcast journalist Piers Morgan also questioned if Trump was ‘endorsing’ the ‘white power’ shout from the video
The president has already been publicly reprimanded by Twitter two times recently – once for sharing ‘potentially misleading’ information and another time for ‘abusive behavior.’
Twitter, for the first time ever, flagged a duo of Trump’s tweets at the end of May when he claimed that relying completely on mail-in ballots for elections during coronavirus would lead to high chances of voter fraud.
After the blue exclamation points were added to the two tweets, he railed against social media, claiming, specifically, that Twitter was disproportionately targeting him and right-leaning users.
His second strike from Twitter came this week when he threatened to use ‘force’ against protesters trying to establish an autonomous zone outside the White House.
The war between Trump and Twitter comes as the president continues to use the special media platform as his way to vent and communicate directly with his supporters and opposition.
Trump boasted in another tweet Sunday morning that no more statues or monuments were defaced this weekend because he signed an executive order that would give 10-year prison sentences for those vandals.
‘Since imposing a very powerful 10 year prison sentence on those that Vandalize Monuments, Statues etc., with many people being arrested all over our Country, the Vandalism has completely stopped. Thank you!’ he lauded.
Protesters have either defaced or caused destruction on dozens of statues across the United States as part of race riots that erupted following the death of George Floyd at the end of May at the hands of a white police officer.
Trump boasted that his executive order imposing 10-year sentences for vandals to monuments has stopped the crimes ‘completely’
The viral incident, which was filmed by a bystander, caused nationwide unrest and massive civil rights protests and riots.
The senior citizens clashes in Florida are likely a reaction to these protests.
One counter protester on the side of the road yelled to those in the golf carts donning Trump gear and waving ‘Make America Great Again’ flags that they are ‘Nazis’ and ‘terrorists.’
Many in the supporter demonstrations appeared unfazed, waving like they were in a parade at those holding signs and yelling at them by the side of the road.
Protesters and civil rights groups and activists, who demand police departments be defined, are also calling for all Confederate statues – and even ones of those who merely owned slaves – to be removed.
On Monday, protesters outside the White House attempted to topple the statue of Andrew Jackson with ropes and chains as they destroyed parts of the base and graffitied ‘Killer’ on it.
The effort to take down the statue themselves failed and they were forcibly removed from the White House vicinity by Park Police while attempting to create the ‘Black House Autonomous Zone’ there.
Some Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have tried to distinguish between statues of historical figures who fought for the Confederacy and those important individuals who may have owned slaves – like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.