Rep. Clyburn Complains That GOP Sen. Tim Scott Doesn’t Vote His Color ...
By Neil Munro, The Daily Caller
Republican Sen. Tim Scott doesn’t vote according to the color of his skin, Assistant Democratic Leader Rep. James Clyburn complained in a Thursday Washington Post article.
“If you call progress electing a person with the pigmentation that he has, who votes against the interest and aspirations of 95 percent of the black people in South Carolina, then I guess that’s progress,” he told the Post.
Clyburn’s argument was featured in a generally favorable article about Scott’s practice of briefly working alongside his constituents in South Carolina without revealing his identity.
The comment from Clyburn, age 73, stands in contrast to a comment from James Copeland, who recently worked alongside Scott at a Goodwill store in Greenville, S.C. When Copeland — an African-American — was told of Scott’s identity, he responded positively.
“Oh, wow, I thought he was just some guy off the street,” he said, according to the Post.
“He was really speaking on my level. I felt like I can relate to him. I’d vote for him. Absolutely,” said Copeland.
The Daily Caller asked Clyburn’s press aide, Amanda Loveday, for a comment. She did not respond.
Clyburn is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House. TheDC asked press aides for House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi if she would demand an apology from Clyburn. The aides did not respond.
The comments about Scott may reflect the Democrats’ desire to stoke racial conflicts in the hope of spiking November turnout among African-Americans. In recent weeks, for example, President Barack Obama has used foreign-policy press conferences to get involved in the disputes over race-related comments by the owner of the LA Clippers’ basketball team, and over the botched execution of an African-American murderer in Oklahoma.
Clyburn’s argument is racialism, rather than discriminatory racism, suggested Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity.