--- title: Tim Scott Lectures Donald Trump on Racism, Charlottesville description: The sole black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott, spoke with President Donald Trump Wednesday to address racism in the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/4940610/tim-scott-donald-trump-racism-charlottesville/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-13T23:00:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:51:21.528Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sole Black Senate Republican Lectured President Trump on Racism og:description: Tim Scott of South Carolina described Trump's response to Charlottesville as "sterile" og:url: https://time.com/4940610/tim-scott-donald-trump-racism-charlottesville/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta59a855ba5666781/6988ddbd096a94668869f965/tim-scott.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Tim Scott og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sole Black Senate Republican Lectured President Trump on Racism twitter:description: Tim Scott of South Carolina described Trump's response to Charlottesville as "sterile" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta59a855ba5666781/6988ddbd096a94668869f965/tim-scott.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Sole Black Senate Republican Lectured President Trump on Racism After Charlottesville > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=cf00ae87-4385-4adc-b4c1-0b5b9a957d67&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Sole Black Senate Republican Lectured President Trump on Racism After Charlottesville [Watch (HLS stream): The Sole Black Senate Republican Lectured President Trump on Racism After Charlottesville](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IoWRK8Eo.m3u8) (0:41)  _Published 2017-09-13. The sole black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott, tried to explain racism in the U.S. to President Donald Trump Wednesday following the events of Charlottesville, Va. that left a woman dead in the wake of a white nationalist rally last month._ by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Sep 13, 2017 11:00 PM UTC The sole black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott, tried to explain racism in the U.S. to President Donald Trump Wednesday following the events of Charlottesville, Va. that left a woman dead in the wake of a white nationalist rally last month. by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Sep 13, 2017 11:00 PM UTC The sole black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott, tried to explain racism in the U.S. to President Donald Trump Wednesday following the [events of Charlottesville, Va.](http://time.com/4911607/president-donald-trump-joe-arpaio-sheriff-arizona/) that left a woman dead in the wake of a [white nationalist rally](http://time.com/4899820/charlottesville-confederate-statues-louisville-lexington-jacksonville/) last month. Scott, who represents South Carolina, called Trump’s response to the violence “sterile” and sought to lecture the President on America’s centuries-long history of racism, [according to the New York _Times_.](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/us/politics/trump-tim-scott-charlottesville-race.html?%5Fr=0) White House staff said Trump’s decision to take the meeting at the Oval Office was an example of the President’s commitment to “positive race relations,” the report said. Following the meeting, Scott told reporters that he sat down with Trump to express his grievances with the President’s claim that “both sides” — white nationalists and counter-protestors — were responsible for the violence. “My response was that, while that’s true, I mean I think if you look at it from a sterile perspective, there was an antagonist on the other side,” Scott said, the _Times_ reported. “However, the real picture has nothing to do with who is on the other side,” he added. “It has to do with the affirmation of hate groups who over three centuries of this country’s history have made it their mission to create upheaval in minority communities as their reason for existence,” Scott continued. “I shared my thoughts of the last three centuries of challenges from white supremacists, white nationalists, KKK, Nazis. So there’s no way to find an equilibrium when you have three centuries of history versus the situation that is occurring today.” White House officials emailed reporters a photograph of Trump Wednesday afternoon listening “intently” to Scott’s argument. The White House’s caption misidentified him as Tom Scott, rather than Tim. ## Transcript This was a very productive meeting that the president and the senator both wanted to have something to discuss of potential solutions moving forward to bring the country together, a focus on unity. Also talking and touching on some of the priorities for the legislative Agenda moving onto the fall. Did Senator Scott express his displeasure at all with the president initial reaction to Charlottesville? Not at all. They talked about it, pretty in depth, but the focus was primarily on solutions moving forward. And that was what both people came to the meeting wanting to discuss. 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