Tim Scott Suggests Slavery Wasn’t as Bad as Welfare for Black Americans

A lot of deplorable things were said during the Republican debate on Wednesday night, but this comment from Republican candidate Tim Scott may take the cake.

During the debate Scott argued that welfare assistance was harder than slavery for Black Americans.

“Black families survived slavery!” he exclaimed. “We survived poll taxes and literacy tests.”

“We survived discrimination being woven into the laws of our country,” he added, in a line that for a moment sounded like he might actually be acknowledging systemic racism.

“What was hard to survive was Johnson’s Great Society, where they decided to put money—where they decided to take the Black father out of the household to get a check in the mail.”

Johnson’s Great Society, launched in 1964, was one of the most significant federal social welfare programs in U.S. history. It greatly expanded welfare policy by writing Medicare and Medicaid into U.S. law, increasing Social Security benefits, and generally expanding assistance to the elderly and the poor.

That Scott had harsher words for welfare assistance than for slavery is not just an overt ahistorical reach. Frankly, it’s embarrassing.

Nikki Haley finally snapped at Vivek Ramaswamy during the Republican debate Wednesday night.

Ramaswamy warned about the dangers of social media but also said he was trying to connect with younger voters through TikTok. Ramaswamy joined TikTok two weeks ago, just days after he referred to the app as “digital fentanyl.”

Haley tore into him for his flip—and for his talking points in general. “Honestly, every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say,” she said.

She described TikTok as “one of the most dangerous social media apps” and called Ramaswamy untrustworthy.

But before you give her too much credit: Haley’s attack on Ramaswamy is particularly ironic considering the highly complimentary blurb she wrote for his book Woke, Inc., which was published in 2021.

Republicans love to hate on TikTok, warning that the Chinese-owned app is a threat to national security and data privacy. But the app is still hugely popular among young people. Restricting TikTok in any way could actually backfire on lawmakers and alienate younger voters.

It’s a big night for DeSantis, and he’s putting on a smile—a creepy facsimile of one, anyway.

At the second Republican presidential debate on Wednesday, Ron Desantis once again tried to smile normally and once again failed.

Viewers watching the debate couldn’t help but notice that when speaking about vetoing “bloating spending bills,” DeSantis plastered a faltering smile on his face, which quickly fell into a disturbed grimace.

DeSantis had the exact same problem during the first Republican debate last month, when his failed attempt to smile quickly became a viral meme.

DeSantis has demonstrated a slew of robotic behavior, from short-circuiting before the press, to seeming like a stock photo model in a series of pictures from 2015 meant to communicate that he was just a regular human man.

At this point, not every viewer is buying that the awkward DeSantis can even hold a conversation.

Joe Biden used Republicans’ own words Wednesday to take aim at their party’s 2024 front-runner.

Trump once again skipped the Republican debate, but his presence was still felt. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finally found an ounce of spine and called Trump out for not attending the debate.

“He owes it to you to defend his record, where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt. That set the stage for the inflation that we have now,” DeSantis said to applause.

Biden had a simple and hilarious response.

Republicans repeatedly blame Biden for the high debt and inflation. They claim that some of his signature policies, such as to provide financial aid during the pandemic or the Build Back Better Act, are the main contributors.

In reality, Republicans raised the debt ceiling multiple times under Trump. And inflation is high in part because Trump made the U.S. economy weaker.

Joe Biden aired an ad on Fox News just 10 minutes before the beginning of Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate.

Just moments before the debate, the pro-Biden political ad targeted what was sure to be a central issue on the debate stage: jobs.

The ad clearly stated all that Trump failed to do for workers and the U.S. economy

“He says he stands with auto workers, but as president, Donald Trump passed tax breaks for his rich friends while automakers shuttered their plants, and Michigan lost manufacturing jobs,” the ad said directly to Republican voters tuning in to watch the debate.

Trump is noticeably absent from the debate.

The ad also highlighted what Biden has done for the economy, including increasing wages, emphasizing that he has followed through on his commitment to support workers. 

“Joe Biden doesn’t just talk, he delivers,” the ad said. On Tuesday, Biden visited striking auto workers on the picket line in Michigan, a first for a sitting president.