South Carolina senator speaks out for change
It’s no secret that many members of Congress have their own opinions about President Donald Trump, and they have been very vocal about those opinions in the media. South Carolina’s own senators Tim Scott and Lindsay Graham have both spoken about their concern regarding Trump’s leadership. More recently, Scott has questioned Trump’s morals in light of his response to the recent events in Charlottesville, Va.
Scott was first appointed to the senate seat by former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and was elected to keep the seat in 2014. He is the first African- American senator to serve for South Carolina. He was first a member of the House of Representatives and supported a large portion of legislation put forward by the Tea Party. Scott is a rather outspoken, strong Conservative who supports gun rights, states’ rights and the repeal of Obamacare but opposes same-sex marriage and abortion. Scott represents the more socially and economically conservative end of the Republican spectrum. He also represents a sector of conservatives who often allow their religious reservations to affect their legislative decisions.
Although Scott is overall very conservative, he still has problems with Trump’s leadership. During a guest appearance on CBS’s network show “Face the Nation,” Scott questioned Trump’s morality and implied that his lack of relative good morals put his leadership at risk for failure. He mentioned the events that occurred in Charlottesville, Va. He talked about how that kind of protesting and conflict will challenge the nation over the next few years and Trump’s lack of morality will negatively affect his ability to lead the country to face these challenges.
He spoke about how Trump doesn’t meet the same moral standards of past presidents such as Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. He discussed the origins and values of the Republican Party and its belief that all men and women were created equal in the “image of God.” So while Scott is among some of the most right-winged in the GOP, he still cannot get on board with the administration’s policies. He also believes that Trump doesn’t represent the ideals of the party and that his leadership model is not one that Republicans can get behind.
Scott is just one of the many members of Congress who has reservations about Trump’s ability to lead, and many of these legislators are from the Republican Party. This is one of the many examples that Trump’s presidency is driving a wedge between differing ideologies within the GOP and at the same time creating an alliance among Republicans of those who are against Trump’s policies. For the party, Trump has been a dividing factor since his decision to run. As more challenges arise both at home and abroad, it will become more important that our controlling party stay bound together and supports executive policy.