Tim Scott fires back at liberal media critics over 'woke supremacy' remark: Left has 'intolerance' for dissent

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Tim Scott sets record straight on 'woke supremacy' in new op-ed

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., responds to left-wing rage against him for being a Black Republican in a new Washington Post op-ed.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., fired back at left-wing media figures angered by his recent "woke supremacy" remarks in a Washington Post op-ed on Wednesday, arguing that ignoring both "woke" and White supremacists endangered the country's future.

"My comments were a sound-bite-length reaction to yet another media figure accusing me of being a token for Republicans," he wrote. "Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard that type of slur. I spoke out because I am gravely concerned for our future if we ignore either type of supremacy — both of which are rooted in racism or discrimination."

Scott, the lone Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, drew liberal criticism after he told Fox News on March 9 "woke supremacy is as bad as White supremacy." He made the remark after far-left MSNBC host Joy Reid said Scott was only at a Republican press conference opposing a minimum wage increase to create a "patina of diversity." 

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Liberal Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart called him a "fool" and complicit in silencing voices calling for racial justice, while fellow liberal Post columnist Colbert King wrote Scott was "living proof that neither racial nor gender diversity is a guarantor of progressive, inclusive and broad-minded thinking." Another liberal columnist, Leonard Pitts, said Scott's remark was "profoundly stupid.

"In other words, my ideology does not match that which they prescribe based on my complexion," Scott wrote, summing up their arguments. "That is woke supremacy. It is the 'tolerant' left’s intolerance for dissent. It is a progressive conception of diversity that does not include diversity of thought. It is discrimination falsely marketed as inclusion."

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Scott wrote he is used to critics assuming he should have different views due to his race and outlined his legislative accomplishments, such as securing funding for historically Black colleges and universities, fighting for school choice, and helping author the Republican tax cuts of 2017.

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"Critics discount these accomplishments for the Black community because it conflicts with the caricature they’ve created of what it means to be Black and to be a Republican," he wrote.

Scott said woke supremacy was "speeding our country toward ideological and literal segregation," spotlighting Columbia University's segregated graduation ceremonies.

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He wrote at the beginning of the piece he was not equating the long history of racial hatred in the United States to modern "wokeism," as some critics had suggested.