The Washington Post is being slammed on social media for a fact check article that appears to try to cast doubt on the life story of Sen. Tim Scott, in part by using an odd argument that the Black South Carolina Republican's "ancestors owned unusually large amounts of land."
Glenn Kessler’s Fact Checker column appeared a day after it was announced that Scott would deliver the GOP’s response on Wednesday to President Joe Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress.
Kessler initially acknowledges that Scott's grandfather "left school at an early age to pick cotton and, according to Scott, never learned to read and write," a story that "fits in with a narrative of Scott moving up from humble circumstances to reach a position of political power in the U.S. Senate."
But then Kessler adds: "But Scott separately has acknowledged that his great-great-grandfather, Lawrence Ware, once owned 900 acres in South Carolina.''
Kessler was even more to the point in a Friday tweet: ''Sen. Tim Scott says he went from 'Cotton to Congress in one lifetime,' but his ancestors owned unusually large amounts of land. Fact Checker investigates.''
Many Twitter users erupted almost instantly to the apparent attack on Scott.
Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at The Federalist, wrote: ''Stop tweeting out your racism, please."
''This is ... tacky,'' another person tweeted. ''That’s the best word I have for it.''
Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, posted that the article ''is disgraceful. You owe him an apology.''
One person accused Kessler of having "decided to participate in a digital lynching," while another tweeted simply: ''Working overtime to earn that 'Enemy of the People' tag.''
Still, there were some who defended the column.
''A fair article which shines light on important nuances in claims by a political figure,'' one person tweeted.
Scott has yet to respond to the controversy and, in his most recent remarks, said he is honored to give the response to Biden’s speech.
"I’m excited and honored for this opportunity to address the nation," Scott said in a statement. "We face serious challenges on multiple fronts, but I am as confident as I have ever been in the promise and potential of America. I look forward to having an honest conversation with the American people and sharing Republicans’ optimistic vision for expanding opportunity and empowering working families."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., added: "Sen. Tim Scott is not just one of the strongest leaders in our Senate Republican Conference. He is one of the most inspiring and unifying leaders in our nation. As Sen. Scott likes to say, he is living his mother’s American dream, and he has dedicated his career to creating more opportunity for our fellow citizens who need it most."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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