SC’s Tim Scott’s office denies he bad-mouthed Trump privately, disputing Bernstein
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is disputing a now viral claim asserted by a well-known journalist that the junior senator from South Carolina privately criticized President Donald Trump while publicly supporting him.
On Monday, famed Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein tweeted a list of 21 Republican lawmakers he said had “privately discussed their disdain for” Trump. Included on that list were other prominent GOP senators such as Chuck Grassley, Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio. Bernstein said the public support from Scott and his GOP colleagues “helped enable Trump’s most grievous conduct,” including “undermining and discrediting” the country’s electoral system, Bernstein tweeted.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s most vocal backers, was not on Bernstein’s list.
Bernstein said the 21 senators talked about their dislike for the president with colleagues, staff, lobbyists or White House aides. He added that many of them have expressed their feelings about Trump on several occasions.
A number of senators objected to the tweet this week, including Scott’s office.
“Sen. Scott has never met, talked to or considered interacting with Mr. Bernstein, so no one should give any weight to the baseless accusations of someone who clearly has an axe to grind with the president,” Scott’s spokesman Sean Smith said in a statement provided to The State. “Sen. Scott has enjoyed a productive relationship with the president, passing tax reform, Opportunity Zones, permanent and historically high funding for HBCUs and more.”
Bernstein gained fame in the 70s after he and Bob Woodward covered the break-in at the Watergate hotel, an event that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Bernstein now appears regularly on CNN as a political commentator.
Scott has often publicly appeared as an ally to the Trump administration, appearing alongside the president at several events, including a rally this year in North Charleston. Scott was the face and the driving force behind the administration’s criminal justice reform plan, one of Trump’s most lauded accomplishments during his tenure in office.
Scott also stood up for the president on the Senate floor as the president underwent hearings after he was impeached by the House. And after the president was acquitted by the Senate, Scott called Trump to tell him, ‘You did nothing wrong,’ the president said in a tweet thanking the North Charleston Republican.
But Scott also has pushed back on Trump at times, specifically on issues of race. After Trump failed to explicitly condemn white supremacy during a debate with then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Scott said the president “needs to correct” his comments.
“White supremacy should be denounced at every turn,” Scott said then. “I think the president misspoke, and he needs to correct it.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 10:38 AM.
