McMaster’s Trump loyalty hurts SC

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Henry McMaster might have both announced their support for renewing the Export-Import Bank (“Jobs or corporate welfare? GOP dispute fuels economic worry in South Carolina,” Jan. 2), but the similarity ends there.

Sen. Scott voted against President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the bank, former New Jersey Sen. Scott Garrett, because of Garrett’s previous opposition to reauthorizing the bank’s charter. His vote against Garrett helped block the appointment.

McMaster, explaining his lack of concern about Garrett, said he didn’t believe Trump would nominate someone to run an agency he wants to dismantle. Perhaps his loyalty to Trump has kept him from noticing EPA Director Scott Pruitt, CFPB acting Director Mick Mulvaney, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, HUD Director Ben Carson and recently departed HHS Secretary Tom Price, all working to destroy their respective agencies.

It seems like McMaster has placed his indebtedness to the president ahead of his loyalty to the people of South Carolina. We need better leadership than this.

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