Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) was asked how he could support President Donald Trump as a devout Christian during an interview Tuesday on “CBS Mornings Plus.”
The Republican senator joined the morning show to promote his new book, “One Nation Always Under God: Profiles in Christian Courage,” which features inspiring stories about influential American men and women whose faith shaped the nation. The book was released on Tuesday.
During the segment, Scott was asked about his belief that America’s Judeo-Christian values are under threat and how a society can define one fundamental “truth” when people hold differing moral views on issues like illegal immigration. He was also asked how he can reconcile his Christian beliefs with his support for Trump.
“As a practicing Christian, how do you reconcile your support for President Trump when many people see his actions as lacking Christian values?” CBS anchor Adriana Diaz asked.
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Diaz listed Trump’s cuts to funding foreign aid, his “rhetoric toward migrants,” and his Truth Social post this week telling Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to “go to Hell” as examples where his critics would argue his actions weren’t aligned with Christian values.
Scott dismissed the comment directed at Schumer as routine political rhetoric.
“I’ve heard a lot of politicians say a lot of things about other politicians,” he said.
He defended Trump’s policy record, particularly on tax cuts, as actions that reflect the values of opportunity and individual responsibility that America was built on.
“Being able to put ourselves back on solid ground is really important,” he said. “But specifically, if you think about what President Trump has done, frankly, on reinforcing the PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) funding that provides billions of dollars to Africa for AIDS, if you think about President Trump’s approach on taxes, when we passed the Trump tax cuts in 2017, we lowered the taxes for a single mother by 70%. If you look at the expansion of the child tax credit, $2,200 today, it was $2,000 when we first passed it, it was only $1,000 before we passed it.”
He continued, “If you look at the impact of providing the average American family with $6,000 as a result of those tax cuts and if you reverse that and look at the Biden administration years, we saw a loss of $1,075 per month in spending power. When inflation goes to 9%, interest rates follow, making everything more expensive. If you look at where we are today, 2.7% is where inflation is. I would say, without any question, the most compassionate approach to providing the best future for the American people is by giving them as many of their resources to make their own decisions,” he argued.
Scott added that returning to America’s guiding principles of optimism and individual responsibility is its best hope for the future.
The senator also joined “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning to discuss the new book and why he believes Zohran Mamdani, a socialist and a Democratic nominee for the New York City mayoral race, is the “worst” option for New Yorkers.