Republicans are 'accused of racism' because of people like Rep. Steve King, says GOP Sen. Tim Scott

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has wondered why terms like "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" became "offensive." The GOP's only black senator is here to show him.

After King's words were published and universally decried Thursday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post blaming comments like King's for claims that the GOP is associated with racism. And if King wonders why his words are problematic, well, he "lack[s] some pretty common knowledge," Scott said.

Scott started his op-ed by sharing that knowledge, describing how "we are only 18 months from Charlottesville, where white nationalists killed a white woman with a car," and four years past the murder of nine black people in a Charleston, South Carolina church. "These are just a sliver" of the examples Scott could list, he said.

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"Some in our party wonder why Republicans are constantly accused of racism," Scott continued, explaining that "it is because of our silence" when comments like King's are made. That silence is why, especially in matters of immigration, the GOP's "affection for the rule of law has become conflated with a perceived racism," Scott said. "King's comments are not conservative views, but separate views," Scott said, adding that they "should be ridiculed at every turn possible." So especially in this case, Scott said he feels "silence is no longer acceptable" when it comes to decrying "dangerous" racist voices in the GOP.

Read the op-ed at The Washington Post.