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Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican senator, was attacked as an “Uncle Tim” on Twitter after saying “America is not a racist country” during the GOP rebuttal to President Biden’s first address to a joint-session of Congress on Wednesday.
The slur began to trend on Twitter after Scott noted in his speech that he has been the subject of derogatory comments about his race because of his political views.
“I’ve also experienced a different kind of intolerance — I’ve been 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,” Scott of South Carolina said.
Toure, a MSNBC contributor, remarked on Twitter that Scott “gets called Uncle Tom by progressives. But he’s an Uncle Tim.”
He returned to Twitter on Thursday to elaborate.
“What makes Tim Scott an Uncle Tim? He has siblings and they have kids. Duh. Also he was on TV denying that America is racist thus aiding and abetting white supremacy,” he said in a post.
Controversial racial justice activist Tariq Nasheed posted used the term to say Scott was speaking “in bad faith” and to “protect white supremacists.”
“A major strategy of racists, is to incentivize one of it’s [sic] Black victims to act as the crash test dummy for white supremacy. When Uncle Tim Scott says America is not a racist country, he is fully aware he is speaking in bad faith. The purpose is to protect white supremacists”
Conservatives came to Scott’s defense, with Republican spokesman Paris Dennard calling on Biden and the Democratic party to denounce use of the slur.
“Sen. @votetimscott is an honorable man. He’s fought for Black Americans his entire life. HBCU funding, Criminal Justice & Police Reform, School Choice & Opportunity Zones. Bigotry should always be denounced. Biden & Democrats should denounce the disgusting use of ‘Uncle Tim’!,” Dennard posted.
Mollie Hemingway, an editor at The Federalist and a Fox News contributor, blasted Twitter for “choosing to trend a racist attack from the left” on Scott.
“Twitter is still out here going out of its way to make racist attacks against GOP Sen. Tim Scott go viral. Apparently they want him to suffer for the crime of upstaging Biden via a highly effective speech. Disgusting,” she said Wednesday night on the social media site.
Twitter finally blocked the phrase from appearing in Trends on Thursday morning.
“This is in line with our policies on Trends,” a Twitter spokesperson told Fox News.
“This means that at times, we may not allow or may temporarily prevent content from appearing in Trends until more context is available,” the spokesperson said. “This includes Trends that violate The Twitter Rules.”
The spokesperson blamed “an algorithm” for allowing “Uncle Tim” to trend.
“This algorithm identifies topics that are popular now, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help you discover the hottest emerging topics of discussion on Twitter,” the spokesperson said.
Scott, in an appearance Thursday on “Fox & Friends,” said the “left has doubled down on this concept of liberal oppression.”
“Intolerance so often comes from the left with words like ‘Uncle Tim’ being used against me by the left, and last night what was trending on social media was ‘Uncle Tim,’” Scott said.
“It is stunning in 2021 that those who speak about ending discrimination want to end it by more discrimination.”
In his blistering response to Biden’s address, Scott said the president offered “empty platitudes” about national unity and blasted him for accusing the US of “systemic racism” in remarks following the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.
“Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country. It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different discrimination. And it’s wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present.
“Original sin is never the end of the story. Not in our souls and not for our nation. The real story is always redemption,” Scott said.
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