In a fascinating appearance on CNN’s “The Van Jones Show,” South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott said he was “hopeful” after engaging in a candid discussion on race with President Donald Trump. Speaking with host Van Jones, Scott said that his conversation with Trump was “uncomfortable” but that it ended on a very good note.
“Yeah, they’re hard. They’re painful. They’re uncomfortable, to sit in the Oval Office and have a conversation with the President about things that you strongly disagree about,” Scott said, as reported by the Daily Wire. “He didn’t change his perspective. I certainly can’t change my perspective. Mine’s educated by my experience.”
“But the way it closed, I thought, gave me reasons to be hopeful,” Scott continued.
Scott noted that Trump ended the conversation with an honest remark that left him feeling optimistic for the future: “‘Tim, I don’t see what you see. What can I do to make things better?'” the President said.
“That was a shocking response,” Scott recalled. “I was surprised after the conversation that his response was, ‘Help me see a better light.'”
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) met with President Trump in the past on racial issues and says that Trump told him: "'Tim, I don't see what you see. What can I do to make things better?'" pic.twitter.com/BIqrJcdIPF
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) July 1, 2018
Sen. Scott said he was quick to respond to that invitation from the President: “Support my Opportunity Zones legislation,” Scott replied.
The legislation “creates “Opportunity Zones,” which utilize tax incentives to “draw long-term investment to parts of America that continue to struggle with high poverty and sluggish job and business growth,” according to the New York Times.
The outlet added:
“The provision is the first new substantial federal attempt to aid those communities in more than a decade. And it comes as a disproportionate share of economic growth has been concentrated in so-called superstar metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and New York. If the zones succeed, they could help revitalize neighborhoods and towns that are starved for investment.”
Scott said he was encouraged that President Trump stuck to his word when promising to get behind the legislation.
“He said he would [support it] and 24 hours later he was. That allowed the Senate to put into the tax bill.”
“I grew up in a low-income community, and I understand firsthand what can happen when hope is lost,” Scott tweeted after the legislation got included in Trump’s January tax overhaul, adding that the policy “can help restore some of that hope – and bring long-term investment that can transform communities for generations.”