In a fiery exchange on Thursday, South Carolina Republican senator and potential 2024 presidential candidate, Tim Scott, fired back at Sunny Hostin and the hosts of ABC's “The View” after what he considered a racially charged attack on his relationship status. Hostin had expressed concern about the influence Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, might have on a potential President Scott. Virginia Thomas has faced criticism on the left for her conservative activism while her husband presides over cases that may be connected to such activism.

Highlighting the racial element of Hostin's remarks, host Sean Hannity pointed out that Justice Thomas, a Black man from Savannah, is married to a White woman from the Great Plains. Hannity accused the Democratic Party and the progressive left of being stuck in a mindset reminiscent of Jim Crow in the 1920s and 30s. Scott, who hails from North Charleston, South Carolina, is the first Black senator elected in the South since Reconstruction and only the third Black senator overall. He noted that Mississippi had elected two Black Republicans, Blanche Bruce and Hiram Revels, to the U.S. Senate shortly after the Civil War. In 2020, Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia became the first Black Democratic senator elected in the South in that time span.

Scott accused “The View” and the left of not wanting a "Black man who thinks for himself," claiming they believe people can be anything in America except Black and conservative. He described Hostin's comments as "radical and disgusting" and an attempt to silence his life story, which disrupts the narrative of the radical left. Scott also criticized some hosts on “The View” for their own racially charged incidents, citing Joy Behar's past Halloween costume in which she wore blackface. Behar had responded to the resurfacing of the image years ago by stating that she was portraying a "beautiful African woman."

Scott further claimed that Behar likely took the day off during his appearance on “The View” earlier this year because she was afraid of being called out in person for her past actions. He expressed his frustration with the Democratic Party's descent into the 1920s and described it as "disgusting and disheartening." Scott emphasized the greatness of America and questioned why the radical left wants a different country when this is considered the greatest nation on Earth.

The exchange on “The View” was not the first time Scott had faced criticism from the show's hosts. The moderator, Whoopi Goldberg, had previously suggested that Scott had "Clarence Thomas syndrome," insinuating that he was not adhering to the left's expectations based on his race. In response to this and other swipes from the same episode, Scott told Fox News that the way to combat the far left was to disprove their lies through actions.

The comparison drawn by Hostin between Scott's relationship and that of Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni, sparked a contentious debate. Scott's rebuttal focused on the racial dynamics at play and the alleged attempts by the left to silence his conservative Black voice. As both sides continue to clash, the controversy surrounding “The View” and its hosts' comments highlights the ongoing tension and divisions within American politics and society.