Fox News "The Story" - Transcript: Sen. Scott on Steve King: Talk of racism inside GOP hurt party's message to Americans

Interview

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MACCALLUM: Here now exclusive is South Carolina Senator Tim Scott who has called on his party to unify in the wake of this controversy. Senator, good to have you here as always. Thank you for coming back on the program tonight.

SEN. TIM SCOTT, R-S.C.: It's good to be with you. Thank you.

MACCALLUM: You know, what did you make of what you just heard from Congressman King? Sort of getting upset with the fact that Liz Cheney and others have come after him?

SCOTT: Yes. He is fighting for his political career, so there is no doubt that he is going to be on the offense as much as possible.

One of the things I've been consistently saying is that I'm not calling on anyone to resign because at the end of the day the voters have a chance to be heard and they are heard in the House every two years.

What I am trying to do is get us to focus on the facts that we, as a conservative party have an opportunity to be heard by every single American in every quarter of the country if we are able to overcome some of the overtones that come from members of our party.

And by doing so, instead of talking about Steve King or racism, we'll talk about the fact that this president, President Trump has led to the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for African-Americans, the lowest ever recorded unemployment rate for Hispanics.

We have passed landmark legislation that will help 31 million Americans mired in poverty living in distress communities called opportunity zones. We have forced the debate on criminal justice reform to make sure that we are doing the right thing for America by keeping our communities safe.

And at the exact same time, providing more opportunities for those folks who are returning to communities to have the right programs to make sure that they don't recidivate, which means that crime rates will go down because of the Criminal Justice Reform Act that was signed into law by President Trump.

But instead of having those conversations, we are having a different conversation and much of that is avoidable.

MACCALLUM: You know, it's so interesting. Actually, I was at the White House when you signed that and when you made the announcement about these opportunity zones --

SCOTT: Yes.

MACCALLUM: -- and the opportunity that they present for minorities and all people who live in areas that are economically challenged around this country. And you talked about the president and what you saw as his enormous leadership on this issue.

SCOTT: Absolutely.

MACCALLUM: And it's very striking. Because what we end up doing and you know, the media is at fault on this too, is getting sucked into some of the stories that perhaps really do not represent the larger concerns of the American people.

SCOTT: Well, they don't. I mean, frankly, here we are sitting in the midst of a shutdown and one of the tactics of the left is to make the wall immoral or talk about racism that somehow conflated with protecting our country.

Common sense suggests that if you have 1,950 miles of border and you have about 700 miles that don't need a fence because you have a natural border there, what do you do? You find a way to strengthen border security which includes barriers, more bodies called and more patrol officers and at the same time using technology.

But instead of having that conversation, the left because of their focus on identity politics is trying to scare people into not supporting our president as it relates to providing the resources necessary to protect our nation, to be a nation we have to have strong security at our borders. This is what you called common sense.

MACCALLUM: So, do you think -- let me ask you. So, do you think that because of that because you don't want these things to be a distraction that Steve King who, you know, claims that he is misunderstood, but nonetheless has found himself in these controversies over and over and over again, would help your party by stepping aside?

SCOTT: Well, once again, there is no doubt that I'm not going to say, yes, that question I think Steve has to make his own decisions. I'm not in the position to know what it's in his heart. I've not been one of his constituents. And those really are the only two of himself, one person, and his constituents, the other body that will make that decision.

I don't think it's my responsibility, nor is it my opportunity to weigh in what he should do from his own perspective. What I can say is that when we are tripping over our own message because our messengers get in the way, that's not good for the party. But more importantly it's not good for America.

Because what we've done in the last two years under President Trump's leadership is to transform our nation economically to undergird the success of our nation from a regulatory perspective which only means that the greatest asset we have -- the average person in our nation is our greatest asset. They now have a chance to flourish like they haven't had in more than a decade. And that's good news. And unfortunately, that good news is not being heard, loud enough, strong enough or often enough.

MACCALLUM: Well, yours is an important voice in your party and we thank you for being here.

SCOTT: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: I know you are calling for civility, fairness, and opportunity --

SCOTT: Yes, ma'am.

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