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RNC 2024: South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott on RNC tone, GOP opportunities

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RNC 2024: South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott on RNC tone, GOP opportunities


FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith sat down one-on-one with Republican South Carolina Senator Tim Scott during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee. 

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Scott spoke at length on multiple topics, including how to revitalize cities, opportunities for development, the tone of the RNC and getting out the vote among African American voters. 

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Text of interview

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Sen. Tim Scott: I love a finding a way to celebrate the good Lord and be talking about the success of Opportunity Zones, talking about the success of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and how the, the the GOP should be interfacing and interacting with minority communities. Really important to me. 

FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: Yeah, these opportunity zones, these are the tremendous opportunities, obviously, to rejuvenate the community, bring in development. Some of the stuff you said today. It was really interesting. You said you have to find a case for these investors. You have to make a case. Absolutely. How do you do that? How do you get this investor who could bring this infusion of money, of economic opportunity to a place like this in Milwaukee?

Sen. Tim Scott: I think cities have a tremendous responsibility and opportunity to really create something like a prospectus. You know, if you’re investing in a mutual fund, you get a prospectus to understand what the likely return on the investment is, that their communities have to do a really good job of doing that. And then when that happens, I think investors naturally come into places where they feel like the return will be good. Good news is that all across the country, we’ve had lots of communities doing that successfully. That’s one of the reasons why we have almost 70, almost $80 billion now being committed to opportunity zones nationwide. Some communities struggle with it more than others, but overall, all the opportunity zones are basically in economically disadvantaged communities. And so finding the investor that wants to have the ability to make a difference and make a profit, there are a lot of them, but you have to work hard to make sure that your state, your city, your community project gets in front of the right investors.

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South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R)

FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: And that could include I’m just passionate about education. I used to be a former, college recruiter for Madison, and so that’s my real drive. Are there economic opportunities there for education? We have a truancy problem here in Milwaukee. That’s one of the things to get the kids, not only in school, but to stay in school and to graduate with a four year opportunity. 

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Sen. Tim Scott: Those don’t necessarily impact don’t do that. But there are a lot of, schools like Northgate and NCC as NCAA, excuse me, as, opportunities as like 300 acres contiguous with their property that they’re now trying to figure out how to use in an effective manner because they’re opportunity zones. A lot of the HBCU’s around the country have opportunity zones, or they’re in one or near one. And to figure out the collaboration that would be helpful for their students to be able to prosper and flourish is a part of the component. K through 12 is different story. Some some folks are looking at creating charter schools and opportunity zones. If there’s a someone who owns a building, it makes it easier for schools to start. And that alone can reduce, frankly, the high level of, of poor grades and poor neighborhoods. 

FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: Yeah. I wanted to go to Spelman, I visited, I didn’t go, but I get it. That would be a great you know. 

Sen. Tim Scott: Aladdin is a great place where you see a lot of opportunities to actually prosper in Morehouse. Spelman. 

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FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: Oh about eight or.

Sen. Tim Scott: So in those areas. Frankly, even I think even Emory and Georgia Tech have opportunity zones nearby. Yeah, it’s really, it’s the collaboration. The partnership is such an important part of the equation. Whether you’re talking k-through-12 education or higher education, you’ve got to be on the lookout for investors who meet the criteria that you set as, ah, as getting more dollars in those communities.

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FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: I couldn’t help it when I heard you talk today. What do you think about HUD, if you were appointed secretary, would you take that position? Would you want to take that position, or do you think you have more power for change as a senator? 

Sen. Tim Scott: There’s no doubt that being a United States senator gives me the widest impact I could dream up. I’ve never dreamt of being the HUD secretary, so I won’t probably start today. But I will say that having Ben Carson and the OC come together at an Opportunity Zone event highlights what you’re talking about. I did an event in South Carolina where we had HUD, and like, the SEC regulates the banks, property goes through the room. Investors and financial institutions came together. And out of that room, a few, a few deals were done is by I understand.

FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: Yeah. Former President Trump talked about changing the narrative. He’s going to throw that speech out after what happened Saturday revamp he is talking about specifically I wrote down unity and calm. Yeah. You know, what do you think it will take for that to happen? And I got to tell you last night, if the Republican Party is looking for unity and calm, why they continue to test, even buy you on President Trump, why not soften that narrative in that rhetoric and speak on the platforms instead of attacking the other candidate? 

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Sen. Tim Scott: Well, actually, what I did was create a contrast. The American people should be very familiar with the contrast between two presidencies that are so close together, consecutive four years, followed by four years, that they can now compare the results of those two presidencies. Number one. There’s no question that if you want to sell something, you gotta say what this product does. The number two. If you have competition, yes. With that product, with that product does not do the product of Joe Biden and Biden does not benefit working class and poor people. $28,000 of lost spending power over the last three and a half years is something should that should be highlighted. Having the lowest unemployment rate in the history of demographics African-Americans. Hispanics. Asians. Women 70 year low. It’s really important to show that contrast. Talking about the devastation of thousands of people being shot in a city controlled exclusively by Democrats for a hundred years. Comparing that to communities run like Dallas, Texas, African-American mayor, where crime is going down. That comparison is really helpful for the consumer or the voter to make their final decision.

FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: But when you have over 80% of African Americans leaning Democratic, they identify with the Democratic Party. How do you get them to come over to the Republican Party, which is seeing increasing amounts of black people in that party, as you mentioned in Dallas? 

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Sen. Tim Scott: There’s no doubt we’ve seen about the greatest, flight from the Democrat Party to the Republican Party of African-Americans in the last 30 years. Part of us leading that movement is our success with HBCUs. Our success with the tax code, our success with opportunity Zones are successful. Sickle cell anemia research our successful heirs property. So when we started marketing the successful issue, standpoint, we find more people interested in the party and not just believing the rhetoric that people hear on TV, but actually getting to the the nitty gritty. And that’s our job to get out into the communities and tell our. 

FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: Stories and tell that’s tell brown people, if you will, that you can be part of this. We’re not this elitist group, you know, as we heard from the Teamsters union last night.

Sen. Tim Scott: Yeah, it’s like I said last night, I grew up with plastic spoons, not silver spoons. Whatever the definition of A is, it doesn’t doesn’t include plastic. And so that’s the deal.

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FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: Last question, which is a fun one. If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing? [00:07:06][3.5]

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Sen. Tim Scott: Ministry

FOX6’s Mary Stoker Smith: Ministry.

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Sen. Tim Scott: Ministering and or being a motivational speaker. I love finding ways to impact people with eternal truth. Yeah.



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Nancy Mace’s foul-mouthed airport tirades roil race for South Carolina governorship as rival slams ‘spoiled brat’

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Nancy Mace’s foul-mouthed airport tirades roil race for South Carolina governorship as rival slams ‘spoiled brat’


New disclosures of a foul-mouthed tirade by Rep. Nancy Mace in the Charleston airport have roiled the South Carolina governor’s race and ignited angry accusations between the lawmaker and one of her competitors in the Republican primary.

Her rival, state AG Alan Wilson, called Mace a “spoiled brat” who treats cops like “servants,” at a time when the two of them are furiously competing for support from voters – and President Trump.

Mace back in August called herself “Trump in high heels” and acknowledged “I would really like his support for governor.” So far, Trump hasn’t given it – to anybody.

An investigative report by the Charleston Airport Authority quotes police officers and TSA agents who say Rep. Nancy Mace used foul language while trying to get expedited security processing FOIA via Charleston Regional Aviation Authority

Mace this week slammed an internal Charleston Airport Authority investigation that probed her profanity-laced “spectacle” Oct. 30, when Mace chewed out police officers and TSA agents over expedited security for her outbound flight, after a planned VIP escort fell through.

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New details are still coming to light – including an earlier incident in April where Mace allegedly blew up at agents who wouldn’t let her bring a family member through expedited security, according to the investigation report. 

“This is the only airport that gives me s–t,” she complained, according to one of the numerous law enforcement officers interviewed as part of the probe.

The investigative report was obtained by The Post through a public documents request.

One interviewed TSA agent quotes Mace as telling a cop following the botched Oct. 30 escort for her arrival at an airport gate, “I’m sick of your s–t, I’m tired of having to wait.”

Another officer, an explosives tech, described Mace as being “very nasty, very rude.” She said she could hear Mace calling police officers “f–king idiots” and “f–king incompetent” and stating that she was a “f–king representative.”

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“This is the only airport that gives me s–t”, Mace said, according to testimony in the report AP

Yet the airport was “not busy at all” at the time of the incident, the officer said.

A TSA agent said during the interaction Mace “literally was on that phone talking and texting her life away” as well as “saying rude things,” according to the investigative report.

One TSA officer who had been at the airport 23 years told investigators “every VIP or whomever, dignitary, that we’ve been across and had to deal with, we never, never had this problem.”

Mace hired an attorney and threatened weeks ago to sue the airport over the October incident, but has yet to do so.

One officer noted that the airport was not crowded the morning of Oct. 30 when Mace had her meltdown FOIA via Charleston Regional Aviation Authority

The report revealed the April confrontation when agents wouldn’t let Mace bring a family member through expedited security. TSA later let her take family members with her when she got screened.

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“I thought that the way she acted showed a sense of entitlement – [that] she is entitled to special protection, she is entitled to special treatment. When she doesn’t get special treatment, she throws a tantrum. To me that harkens back to a child not getting their way,” Wilson told The Post in an interview.

“These are public servants, not personal servants,” he said of law enforcement at the airport.

State AG Alan Wilson said Mace was behaving like a “spoiled brat,” and is challenging Mace in a fierce race for governor of South Carolina. AP

Mace told CNN in an interview this week the report had been “falsified,” without providing evidence. In response to Wilson’s “brat” comment, she wrote: “Imagine being ‘Attorney General’ and flying 500 miles for the sole purpose of dismissing death threats against a single mom.”

She told The Post she has received numerous credible death threats, and said on Friday a judge denied bond to a man accused of making online threats against her. She said during the April incident TSA had violated its own policy allowing federal officials to bring a guest and separated her from her child.

Mace has been taking her case to the airwaves in a week where she trashed the House Republican leadership in a Washington Post op-ed.

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A consultant to Mace’s campaign, Austin McCubbin, resigned Dec. 1, accusing her of turning her back on MAGA and trying to “hug the political cactus that is the [Sen.] Rand Paul [and Rep.] Thomas Massie wing of the Party.”



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A Stronger Rail Network Is a Win for South Carolina’s Economy – FITSNews

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A Stronger Rail Network Is a Win for South Carolina’s Economy – FITSNews


“The combined rail system would offer the reliability our business community has been asking for…”


by NATHAN BALLENTINE

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For as long as I’ve served in the South Carolina House, I’ve believed that strong infrastructure is the backbone of a strong economy. Whether talking about roads, bridges, broadband, or freight mobility, our ability to efficiently move people and goods determines how competitive our state will be in the decades ahead. South Carolina continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the country, and with that growth comes a responsibility to ensure our logistics network can meet the demands of modern commerce.

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That is why the proposed merger between Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) deserves thoughtful consideration, not just at the national level, but here at home. South Carolina’s economic success is directly tied to reliable freight transportation. From advanced manufacturing in the Upstate, to the distribution and warehousing centers in the Midlands, to the countless businesses that depend on steady supply chains, every region of our state relies on a freight system that works smoothly and predictably.

When freight rail is fragmented across multiple networks, bottlenecks and delays become far more common. Businesses, especially those operating with tight production schedules and narrow delivery windows, feel the impacts immediately. A delayed railcar can throw off inventory planning, disrupt operations, and create ripple effects that stretch across an entire supply chain. These unpredictable slowdowns can be enormously costly for the companies that keep South Carolina’s economy moving.

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The Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger aims to address many of these longstanding challenges. By creating a unified network connecting more than 50,000 miles of track and linking 43 states with over 100 ports nationwide, the combined rail system would offer something our business community has been asking for: reliability. Studies indicate the merger could generate approximately $1 billion in annual cost savings and improve freight-car velocity by around 10 percent. These aren’t abstract figures, they reflect tangible improvements that would strengthen operations for employers, distributors, retailers, and consumers alike.

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“Economic development teams would also have an even stronger pitch when attracting new employers to South Carolina…”

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A more dependable rail network means companies can plan with greater precision, suppliers can manage logistics with fewer surprises, and transportation partners can commit to schedules with increased confidence. Economic development teams would also have an even stronger pitch when attracting new employers to South Carolina: not just a skilled workforce and business-friendly climate, but a transportation network capable of supporting long-term growth.

Improved rail performance also benefits South Carolina’s infrastructure more broadly. Rail is one of the most efficient ways to move goods long distances. Every shipment that travels by rail instead of truck reduces congestion on our highways, lowers fuel costs, and decreases wear and tear on roads that taxpayers ultimately fund. Better rail capacity complements, rather than replaces, our ongoing efforts to invest in roads and bridges across the state. It allows us to stretch transportation dollars further and focus on the improvements most needed in fast-growing communities.

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Another important factor is competitiveness. States across the Southeast are aggressively investing in logistics infrastructure to position themselves as national leaders in manufacturing and distribution. If South Carolina wants to stay ahead, and continue attracting companies that create stable, high-quality jobs, we must support improvements that strengthen the reliability and efficiency of our freight network. The Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger presents an opportunity to do just that.

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RELATED | SOURCES: S.C. LAWMAKERS THREATEN SUPREME COURT

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As someone who has spent nearly two decades advocating for responsible, forward-looking growth in our state, I believe that modernizing our freight system is not just a transportation issue, it is an economic necessity. Ensuring that goods can move quickly, safely, and predictably is fundamental to the success of our businesses and the financial well-being of South Carolina families.

Federal regulators will ultimately determine the path forward, and their review should be thorough and transparent. But from where I sit, the potential benefits to our state are clear. A more integrated, efficient rail system will help South Carolina businesses compete, help consumers by keeping costs lower, and help our state maintain the strong economic momentum we’ve built over the past decade.

A stronger rail network means a stronger South Carolina, and that is a future we should fully support.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Nathan Ballentine (Provided)

Nathan Ballentine represents the citizens of House District 71 in the S.C. General Assembly.

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LIVE: SC AG Alan Wilson, state, national leaders hold press conference on statewide drug busts

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LIVE: SC AG Alan Wilson, state, national leaders hold press conference on statewide drug busts


Statehouse Reporter Mary Green will have more on this tonight.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – South Carolina Attorney General and other officials will be holding a press conference Friday at 9:30 a.m. to talk about statewide drug busts.

Wilson is set to be joined by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel, representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, as well as several local sheriffs and other law enforcement partners.

Watch the full press conference in the video above.

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