Senator Tim Scott (R., S.C.) accused President Biden of abandoning his promise of bipartisanship during his response to Biden’s address to a Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday night.
“Three months in the actions of the President and his party are pulling us further, further apart,” Scott said.
The South Carolina senator criticized Democrats’ handling of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, faulting the party for not including a requirement to reopen schools for in-person learning.
“In February, Republicans told President Biden, we wanted to keep working together to finish this fight. But Democrats wanted to go it alone. They spent almost $2 trillion on a partisan bill,” Scott said.
Scott also hit Democrats regarding the Biden administration’s proposed infrastructure bill, noting that it allocates less than 6 percent of its $2 trillion price tag for roads and bridges.
“Democrats want a partisan wishlist. They won’t even built bridges to build bridges,” Scott said.
Scott then pivoted to discuss racial discrimination.
“Nowhere do we need common ground more desperately than in our discussions of race,” Scott said. “I get called Uncle Tom and the N word by progressives, by liberals. Just last week, a national newspaper suggested my family’s poverty was actually privilege because a relative owned land, generations before my time.”
However, Scott added, “Today kids are being taught that the color of their skin defines them again…From colleges to corporations to our culture, people are making money and gaining power by pretending we haven’t made any progress at all.”
To finish the speech, Scott called to focus on the future of the country.
“I am more than hopeful—I am confident, that our finest hour is yet to come,” Scott said. “Original sin is never the end of the story, not in our souls and not for our nation. The real story is always redemption.”