Senator Tim Scott joins Dave Rubin to discuss his book America: A Redemption Story, critiquing the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package and Inflation Reduction Act for accelerating inflation while arguing that Democratic strategies to slow-roll interest rates harm the economy. He highlights the migration from California to Florida, condemns no-bail laws, and defends Opportunity Zones as proof that conservative policies reduce poverty contrary to identity politics. Scott advocates for the Protect Kids Act to prevent gender instruction without parental consent, predicts a Republican "red wave" controlling Congress, and emphasizes American exceptionalism over global citizenship before campaigning on his birthday. [Automatically generated summary]
Democrat parents get this issue as well as Republican parents.
This is an issue that actually unites parents across the board.
In South Carolina, they were stunned by the developments across the country as it relates to your ability to have a gender identity group and to have teachers feeling like they're forced to provide instruction.
That is just antithetical to what's in the best interest of a child to exclude the parent
from any conversation around those very important topics.
And so this legislation would pull money away from schools who refuse to comply with what
the law, by the way, of the land already is.
Minors don't make decisions in a vacuum.
It requires a parental supervision to make those decisions.
I have to reinforce that by pulling the money away so that we can make them pay attention
Because I want to talk about the book, but I obviously want to talk about current events and election and all of that stuff and, you know, some of the things you're doing right now.
But first, the general point of the book is positivity.
It is decency.
It is something that seemingly everyone talks about, but nobody does particularly well.
I include myself in that sometimes.
I try to do it.
I often fail.
Can you talk a little bit about how your life led you to writing something based on that idea?
You know, Dave, the America Redemption story is a book that I see as a positive view of the world as it is, not as I hope that it will be.
The truth is that what I learned through life is that the pain that I've gone through has helped to clarify my purpose, that my obstacles have become the opportunities, and frankly, the mess I made of my life has become my message.
So, the truth is that yes, it's a positive book, but it's not one of those pie-in-the-sky Hoping that something will be different than it is.
It's the reality of what is.
There is a way for us to bring forth a positive message in the midst of the chaos.
And frankly, I'm sure we'll talk about inflation and some of the other challenges that we see today.
As a kid who grew up during the Carter years, I thank God Almighty for Ronald Reagan.
And so the truth is that I learned why I love President Ronald Reagan because of the misery of high inflation, even higher interest rates, and scarcity.
Not a mentality, but at the gas pump.
So the truth is that when I think about the hardest times I've seen in my life, Somehow, someway, a silver lining appeared.
And that book talks about that silver lining in race, it talks about it with the former president, it talks about it in winning and losing elections, it talks about it through this economic challenge that we're going through right now.
So it can be tough to find the silver lining with so many of the things going on right now between inflation and supply chain and the war, not war, in Ukraine and a whole bunch of other stuff.
But do you think, do you really view us in that Jimmy Carter moment right now, which maybe could cause, you know, sort of a red pilling of Americans, the average American that didn't realize that maybe big government doesn't work and printed money doesn't work and the rest of it?
So anytime I have a Republican on, Congressman, Senator, doesn't matter, I basically ask one question always, which is, do you think they are doing this intentionally?
Do you believe that they think this stuff works or is this, you know, what people are calling sort of like a calculated implosion?
I can't say that the rank and file Democrats have a strategy ...to have the economy implode because of the pressure of inflation, the pressure of interest rates.
What I can tell you is that the strategy to slow roll interest rate increases had a lot to do, from my perspective, of people being up for reappointment.
It had something to do with trying to satisfy the whims and the wishes of the Biden administration.
And that combination, whether intentional or not, led to an acceleration of inflation in a way that we haven't seen since the Carter years.
So I don't imagine that they have a grand design to completely destroy the American economy.
I do think they have a grand design to change the very DNA of the American people.
When you look at what's happening, it's undeniable that what is clearly happening is a centralization in decision making and in spending.
So when you talk to, or if you talk to, say, a Democrat governor, maybe I just fled California, now I live in the free state of Florida, if you were to talk to Gavin Newsom, or if you have talked to him, or just one of the Democrats, Hochul up in New York, Whitmer, whoever it might be, I mean, do they think what they're doing is good?
I mean, putting aside whether it works or not, I mean, just the intention.
Yes, and that's why I asked you sort of the same question in two ways, because when you see 350,000 people flee California, which is what happened last year, you'd think Gavin might go, I don't know, maybe this has something to do with my policies, but okay.
I looked at the polling information and the polling suggests that there's an 82% chance that I'm black, but the chances are 100%.
Here's what's happening.
And David, this is really simple.
Anytime an African-American who happens to be conservative starts making common sense on TV, the left must nullify the very existence of someone they wished was a unicorn.
But I am not.
I am real.
I am not a fairy tale.
I am actually really here in front of you.
The truth is that the most dangerous sight they've ever seen is someone who actually fights for the very people they say they represent and produces
results like opportunity zones.
When you think about bringing poverty to the history of America, 2019.
Think about the fact it is the year that the private sector invested $29 billion through Opportunity Zones in those marginalized communities, leading to an 8% increase in wages, a 20% increase in property values, which closes, it shrinks the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
And oh, by the way, it led to the lowest level ever recorded for poverty.
That scares the blue dickens out of the blue, the left.
It's a strange thing, but it works.
We have the proof is in the pudding.
Black conservatives that stand up for folks living in marginalized communities represent something that MSNBC and sometimes CNN, they just can't stomach it.
They can't, you know, I don't know if you know this, but I campaigned with alongside Larry Elder when, during the California recall, and I would open for him at some events and, you know, I'd read the headlines and they'd say, you know, all his supporters are white supremacists and he's the black face of white supremacy.
And I'm out there in front of thousands of people waving American flags, cheering him on, and they're calling them the white supremacists.
Here's the funny thing is here's a guy who ran for Congress in 2010.
I sit now as a United States Senator for the great state of South Carolina.
Civil War Charleston and because of the evolution of the Southern heart I sit now as a United
States Senator for the great state of South Carolina.
If we were talking about racist not supporting candidates of color I wouldn't be here.
Nor would a successful Wesley Hunt who won his primary in Texas.
By the way, primaries are typically, Republican primaries, are more white than the overall population.
So if you want to test the theory of race and politics, go to places like Texas or Charleston, South Carolina, or John James in Michigan, and you start noticing there's a trend that people I actually judge you based on the content of your character, not the color of your skin.
Ask Myra Flores or young Kim or Michelle Steele and you'll get the same conclusion that Americans are far more interested in what's on the inside than we are the outside.
But Democrats, the tribal nature of identity politics requires them to start on the outside And use these characteristics to come to an artificial conclusion consistent with the very theory of progress.
Do you think it's possible that Republicans or conservatives, whatever you want to call right-leaning people, was it bad messaging on that side?
Or was the messaging of the left just so effective to create these untrue memes that you're describing?
Because I can tell you, as someone that was a lefty my whole life, Came across the aisle now, and it's like, I meet the most decent, loving, open, actually more open-minded, even, than the purported open-minded people.
Well, Dave, one of the things I found to be quite interesting is the definition of any words used in politics today, like the Inflation Reduction Act actually increases inflation, or the fact that you hear people talking about the Republican Party being a group of racists or deplorables, and the truth is, when the guy from the Black Lives Matter A leader showed up at the Trump rally?
They gave him the stage!
And so, they applauded him for the things that they agreed upon, and they didn't boo him, they treated him with respect and deference on the areas of disagreement.
He was stunned, and we say in my office, shooketh, which is a Tim Scott internal phrase for, I can't believe that happened.
So literally, what we find happening all across the country is people of good intent, they welcome debate.
They actually welcome disagreement.
What they don't welcome is indoctrination.
What they don't welcome is you telling me that because of the color of my skin, I'm an oppressor.
Or you, frankly, telling me because of the color of my skin, I'm a victim.
Both are offensive.
But people of good intent, they don't judge you based on these superficial things.
They judge you based on how the heart responds to the crisis of the moment.
I celebrate all the governors around the country who take very seriously the importance of the relationship between a parent and their teachers.
And Governor DeSantis has led on this and we should give him a lot of credit for doing so.
What I've seen across the country, I've been focused on school choice and empowering parents for the last nine years.
I love the model that Jeb Bush had and Rick Scott had and now Ron DeSantis has in Florida.
But the truth is that governors throughout the country, including Kim Reynolds in Iowa,
they're all focusing on school choice.
And one of the reasons why is I had this panel and I had parents from around the country,
one from Virginia come down to Charleston, South Carolina.
And she says to me, I need basically a FOIA, a Freedom of Information Act request
just to get a copy of my kids curriculum.
I can't get into the school.
And then you hear these parents in Iowa and in Virginia who are concerned about their kids being indoctrinated from a gender perspective.
I decided that the problems are not just in one state.
They seem to be in many states.
So, one of the things that makes common sense to me is the parent is the person who should be in the biggest, most powerful position possible in making decisions for their kids.
Big labor unions and bureaucrats are in the way of those parents making the decisions and then working with their teachers to carry that out.
I want that to be nationwide, not in one or two states Where the governors are taking that issue seriously.
Every single state.
When you're talking about a 12-year-old, the parents should be engaged in the decisions of their kids.
That's just common sense in my household where I grew up.
I want it to be common sense all across the country.
When you talk to the Democrats in South Carolina and you bring this up and you talk about transparency and okay the power back to the parent, Do any of them get it?
I mean, again, I guess it sort of gets back to that other question we talked about, but to me, something about the one with kids maybe is a wake up, sort of like what we saw happen in Virginia with Youngkin winning when it didn't look like he was going to win just a couple of weeks before the election.
I think parents, Democrat parents get this issue as well as Republican parents.
This is an issue that actually unites parents across the board.
In South Carolina, they were stunned by the developments across the country as it relates to your ability to have a gender identity group and to have teachers feeling like they're forced to provide instruction.
That is just It's antithetical to what's in the best interest of a child to exclude the parent from any conversation around those very important topics.
And so this legislation would pull money away from schools who refuse to comply with what the law, by the way, of the land already is.
Minors don't make decisions in a vacuum.
It requires a parental supervision to make those decisions.
I have to reinforce that by pulling the money away so that we can make them pay attention to what the law of the land already is.
I always think it's funny because I remember when I was a kid if you if they took us to the zoo or something at school or we went down to DC you'd have to have a parental slip but somehow now you can literally talk to a kid about gender identity privately and and hold it for six months it's nuts senator I should have asked you but I should have just googled before I started how old are you if you don't mind me asking because I think we're roughly around today's my birthday I am 57 Today's your birthday?
You're sort of on the, I guess that would be like the high end of Gen X. I'm kind of right in the middle of it.
But do you think, the reason I ask though, is because as I'm listening to you, and as I've heard many of your speeches before, it seems like the message that you've got, and literally your age, that you are not in your late 70s, 80s, where we're being governed by all of these people, that it seems like our generation was supposed to take the reins, and somehow we missed it.
Did something happen there that skipped us over in a weird way?
I am one of the older generation Xers, that's true.
I will say this, I don't know what quite happened, by the way.
I'm not sure if too many were asleep at the wheel and just missed that opportunity.
I think we should be fully engaged in shaping this country.
I think we have enough experience, enough education, enough nicks and bruises to look back and help those who are coming and to look forward and to know what we should take from our parents and what we left on the sidelines.
I think we are in the perfect age range to help recalibrate this country for its best output yet.
What do you make of the general thing that's happening across the country, which is that the states really do seem to be going in very different directions.
I mean, I feel like I live in a different country, honestly.
Well, listen, I think we've had very unique and interesting times in American history where the states felt a tension that at some times was not healthy and that we overcame that.
I do think we're in another one of those moments where we're seeing the states divide amongst themselves naturally.
I mean, the good news is when you can work and live where you want to, you move from To Florida, you know, or you should have stopped by the way in South Carolina and called it home.
We say those folks who moved from like New Jersey to Florida and then they come back to South Carolina.
Well, if I had my brothers, we would win the Senate with about two or three seats to spare.
We would have the House with about, when I came into the House in 2010, I think we had 63 new seats in the House.
That was a banner year, without any question.
If I had it my way, we'd have that kind of a red tsunami.
What I think is going to happen, I think we will control the House at the end of this election, and there is a decent chance that we can control the Senate as well.
We need to execute on the field.
The game is coming down to the last two minutes.
The score is going to be close to tied.
And I want to make sure that when you give the ball as a quarterback, you turn and you give your ball to your running back, I'm hoping that Herschel will be jumping over the The goal line in the air with the ball secured, no fumbles, and it wins back Georgia.
And I'm very confident that Ted Budd will do a four and out and score on his two two-minute drills out there.
And I'm hoping that Dr. Oz will be the coach on the sideline and drawing up the play.
and we'll execute, he was the Harvard quarterback, so maybe he'll roll scramble to the left
and hit the receiver for a three yard score.
And then JD Vance, I know he's a good author, so I'm not gonna play his football,
but he can kick the extra point, heck fire him with that right there.
All right, so, but okay, so if that happens, let's say you get something close to what you want, even if it's not that, you know, three senators over, et cetera, but you get some of that.
Well, the first thing that should change if we control both houses is that we start oversight.
An oversight objective to rein in this very unwieldy group of Democrats running this country in the Biden administration.
They need oversight like a three-year-old needs a parent to say, don't do this.
I mean, literally, we need to bring the oversight hammer down.
Number two, we have to be the party of parents.
The one thing that is manifest today throughout this country is that school choice and parental involvement is now more important than it's ever been before.
I think it is 67% of Democrats, 68% of the independents, 70% of African Americans, 74% of Hispanics, 80% of dual income working families all support some form of school choice.
After looking at the devastating learning loss and the precipitous drop in scores, We have to lead for parents.
That's the second thing we should do.
And the third thing we have to do, in my opinion, is to control our southern border and build a physical impediment.
It is a national security risk, it is a fentanyl and drug risk, and it is two and a half million illegal crossing in the illegal immigration risk.
And finally, what is obvious to all of us, If you just turn the spending off, I believe inflation comes down in a real and manifest way.
If you start talking about tax policy that makes sense and predictability in the regulatory state, people with certainty and predictability, they go back to creating jobs.
They go back to making sure that they're making long-term investments.
That helps to spur the economic engines in a way that attracts jobs back to America and high-tech manufacturing and the STEM future becomes ours.
You know, Dave, I'll tell you, my national ambition is to travel this country for the next seven weeks and my home state in order to win the majorities in the House and the Senate.
I am a guy that, I figured out one thing several years ago, applying for jobs is the worst way to get a job.
The best way to get a job is to do that job like no one's ever done it before.
And that's one of the reasons why in the last three weeks or so I've been to Florence, and Myrtle Beach, and Columbia, and Charleston, and Anderson, South Carolina, as well as Rock Hill.
And I'll be in Greenville, and Spartanburg, and Columbia again in the next couple weeks.
But I'm also in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina in the last just few weeks.
And I'll do more of the same in the next few weeks.
Because I believe that the most important thing I can do with my time and my good health is to invest it in the future of America because one day there will be kids like yours running this country and we need to make sure they start off looking at the city on the hill.