Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott on Tuesday told his colleagues he has received a large number of death threats and phone calls with graphic racial slurs.
During Republicans’ weekly luncheon, Scott mentioned he has been getting a lot of calls with death threats and many racial slurs, The New York Times reported. Scott reportedly mentioned he had been called “Uncle Tim,” in one call and that the caller told Scott to “take your one-way ticket straight to hell.” Another caller reportedly talked about putting Scott “in his crosshairs.”
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) (R) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) take the podium for a news conference to unveil the GOP’s legislation to address racial disparities in law enforcement at the U.S. Capitol June 17, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
This comes as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture Monday on the Republican police reform legislation, setting an official date for the vote.
McConnell said the Senate will vote on the GOP’s police reform bill, which will need 60 votes in order to pass. Republicans would need seven or more Democrats to vote with them in order for the legislation to advance. Senate Republicans released their police reform legislation Wednesday in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ongoing protests.
“The only group left in Washington D.C. that are reportedly agonizing over whether to block a discussion of police reform or let it proceed seem to be our Senate Democratic colleagues,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Monday. “I hope that whatever strange political calculations are making this difficult for our friends across the aisle will yield to common sense and to the American people’s hunger for progress. We will find out when we vote later this week.”
Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and McConnell introduced the legislation in a press conference.
The legislation will include a “notification act so that we can understand and appreciate the 30,000 plus no-knocks that happen around the country to see where they’re happening so we have more information,” Scott said. It is supposed to include anti-lynching legislation that was stalled by Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in the Senate. The legislation also calls for more funding for body cameras. (RELATED: Sen. Tim Scott Lays Out What He Expects In GOP Police Reform Legislation)
McConnell appointed Scott to lead the party’s effort in passing a police overhaul bill before July 4. The South Carolina senator has ruled out including a revision to qualified immunity — a key measure supported by Democrats and others. (RELATED: Sen. Tim Scott Fires Back At Those Calling Him A ‘Token’ For Drafting GOP Police Reform Legislation)
The group of Republican senators who worked on the bill includes Scott’s fellow South Carolina senator, Lindsay Graham, as well as Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.