'An embarrassment': Critics slam Tim Scott for defending Trump's white supremacy debate blunder

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is caught in the middle of a massive Twitter storm after his attempt to defend President Donald Trump's failure to denounce white supremacy during his first presidential rally ahead of the 2020 election.

In the aftermath of Trump's turbulent debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, the American public was left reeling over the stark takeaways from the political clash. However, the biggest controversy centers on Trump avoiding the calls to disavow white supremacy. Instead of doing so, Trump offered a loaded statement to the Proud Boys saying, "stand back and stand by."

Although the Proud Boys have praised Trump for his remarks because they, too, are aware of what the president's words suggested, Scott offered a different perspective. When asked about the president's remarks during an appearance on NBC News Wednesday morning, he immediately offered an explanation on behalf of the president. Scott seems to think the president "misspoke."

"I think he misspoke in response to Chris Wallace's comment," Scott answered. "He was asking Chris what he wanted to say, I think he misspoke. I think he should correct it. If he doesn't correct it, I guess he didn't misspeak."

In similar fashion, the president's son Donald Trump Jr. also had an argument almost identical to Scott's. When asked about the ordeal, he said, "I don't know if that was a misspeak, but he was talking about having them stand down," Trump Jr. told "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King. "He's more than happy to condemn that."

It did not take long for Twitter users to go after Scott. Although Scott insisted the president should offer clarity if he did misspeak, Twitter users and many others still aren't buying it. Since this is not Trump's first time side-stepping a question about this critical issue, Scott is being criticized for parsing the president's remarks while failing to take Trump at his word.

Scott's latest remarks come months after he made headlines for authoring Senate Republicans' proposed bill for police reform. At the time, Scott was widely criticized by Democratic lawmakers for producing a "watered down" version of police reform that failed to effectively address real concerns regarding law enforcement practices.

"Tim Scott's bill is a half-assed bill that doesn't do what we should be doing, which is doing honest police reform," Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

"The Republican bill is really just disastrously weak it betrays the demands for justice and change that I have seen, day after day in Connecticut," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

That proposed bill was ultimately struck down by Senate Democrats.