‘Uncle Tim’ trends on Twitter following Senator Tim Scott’s rebuttal to Biden’s address to Congress

Thomas McDonald |

Apr 29, 2021

Liberals wasted no time attacking Senator Tim Scott, the only black GOP Senator in Congress, for giving the Republican response to President Biden’s address to a joint session of congress.

However, attacks on Scott’s speech were not based on substance or policy disagreements but rather largely consisted of racist slurs and divisive rhetoric. After his speech, Twitter users, mostly Democrats and those on the left, began using the term “Uncle Tim” to describe the GOP Senator.

I'd totally be unsurprised to learn that Stephen Miller wrote that bullshit speech for Uncle Tim.

That would make more sense.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) April 29, 2021

What was your excuse for these 4 tweets? https://t.co/N3fQby2X2U pic.twitter.com/0tl9ogvTrh
— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) April 29, 2021

Many on the left were also agitated by remarks Scott made declaring America is not a racist country. “Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country. It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different discrimination. And it’s wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present.”

Sen. Tim Scott responds to Biden speech: 'America is not a racist country' What can you say about scott, I would start and end with UNCLE TOM.
— TM (@TommieM99313448) April 29, 2021

liberals: how dare Tim Scott say that “America isn’t a racist country”

also liberals: pic.twitter.com/uRcJjp9wEE
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) April 29, 2021

Other users noticed Twitter allowing the racist terms to spread freely on the social media platform, even allowing it to trend overnight.

If @Twitter is the great arbiter of protecting others from abusive and racist speech, why is it allowing “Uncle Tim” to trend nationwide and including it in the top 10 trends?

Just another example of the double standard held by this website pic.twitter.com/s2vsF11zMJ
— Ryan Frantzis (@RyanFrantzis) April 29, 2021

Those who supposedly speak out against racism, had “Uncle Tim” trending last night.

The left has some of the most racist people in their party and they aren’t afraid to show it when it’s someone that doesn’t conform to their mentality.
— Alexandra Lains ???????? (@realalexlains) April 29, 2021

Geraldo Rivera even came to Scott’s defense over the offensive term being used.

This morning many Leftists are disparaging @SenatorTimScott's effective, soaring, optimistic rebuttal to @JoeBiden's call for a return to the New Deal. Uncle Tim is no Uncle Tom. Shame on creepy whiners who refuse to accept a Black man who doesn't buy into the Grievance Manifesto
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) April 29, 2021

“We just heard President Biden’s first address to Congress. Our President seems like a good man. His speech was full of good words. “But President Biden promised you a specific kind of leadership. He promised to unite a nation. To lower the temperature. To govern for all Americans, no matter how we voted,” Scott said in his speech.

“That was the pitch. You just heard it again. “But our nation is starving for more than empty platitudes. We need policies and progress that bring us closer together. But three months in, the actions of the President and his party are pulling us further apart,” he continued.

During his speech, Scott made mention of racist terms that he has been called in the past. “I get called ‘Uncle Tom’ and the N-word — by ‘progressives’! By liberals! Just last week, a national newspaper suggested my family’s poverty was actually privilege because a relative owned land generations before my time.”

Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in 2013. He retained his seat after winning a special election in 2014 and was elected to a full term in 2016. He has been endorsed by President Donald Trump in his election bid in 2022. Scott’s name has been floated as a possible contender for the Republican nomination for President in 2024.