Republican rebuttal to Biden speech ignites debate on racism

The official Republican response to United States President Joe Biden’s speech to Congress on Wednesday night came from Tim Scott, the only Black Republican US Senator.

“Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country,” Scott said in a televised rebuttal. And after detailing his own personal experience with discrimination, he accused Democrats of using race as “a political weapon”.

“Race is not a political weapon to settle every issue the way one side wants,” he said.