U.S. Senator Tim Scott’s (R-SC) measured responses last night on Fox’s The Kelly File demonstrate what strong leadership looks like.

Scott is one of only two black senators in the U.S. Senate. He was the first black person elected from the South to the Senate since 1881. He is from the Charleston area, and has served as an elected Republican in local, state, and federal roles since 1995. He is well respected and admired in South Carolina.

Senator Scott was on The Kelly File to discuss the Charleston shooting. Two of his responses in particular should be highlighted. The first is his statement that so many people want to drag us back to a dark time, and that while racism still remains today, we have made much progress. The second is that he clearly denounced President Obama’s immediate political pandering that lack of gun control is to blame for the Charleston shooting. Further, he didn’t dodge the question, he outright stated that no gun law would have prevented this tragedy. See Sen. Scott on The Kelly File:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hZBFzNOlg

Sen. Scott’s responses contrast with Todd Rutherford’s near comical exchange with Bill O’Reilly Thursday night. S.C. State Representative Rutherford (D), who is the Minority Leader in the State House, was neither measured nor coherent in participating in a conversation, but insisted on spouting that Fox News and “coded language” was to blame for this shooting. Rutherford demonstrated clearly that he is one of those people who want to drag us backward in time to an era that no longer exists. This is a glaring example of how the left continuously stokes the resentment of the right, and why the right is constantly in defensive posture. This type of rhetoric leaves no room for negotiation or space to find common ground. This is not the kind of talk that leads to reconciliation. These people are smart enough to know that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkENK40GrNA&app=desktop

About the shooter, Rep. Rutherford said the same thing earlier on CNN:

[B]ecause he watches the news and he watches things like FOX News, where they talk about things that they call news, but they’re really not. They use that coded language, they use hate speech, they talk about the president as if he’s not the president. They talk about church-goers as if they are really not church-goers. And that’s what this young man acted on.

Despite what Rep. Rutherford says, he might give serious thought to thanking Fox News for its role in helping to catch the shooter. Debbie Dills watched Fox and Friends on Thursday morning and spotted the shooter in Shelby, North Carolina, which led to his quick arrest. Fox’s coded racist message really went haywire on that one!