Twitter Removes ‘Uncle Tim’ from Trending Topics After Senator Scott Attacked Over Biden Rebuttal Speech

Twitter struck down “Uncle Tim” as a trending topic after the racially-charged pejorative took off online because of Senator Tim Scott’s (R-SC) rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s congressional address.

In Scott’s Wednesday night counter-speech, one of his most eye-catching moments occurred when he talked about experiencing racism from “progressives” while simultaneously arguing that “America is not a racist country.” This drew a response from Kamala Harris the next day — as the vice president partially agreed with Scott’s premise, stating, “I don’t think America is a racist country.” She added, though, that America needs to be honest about the existence of racism and its impact on the nation’s history.

As political observers reacted to Scott’s remarks, the words “Uncle Tim” took off under Twitter’s “politics” category. The phrase is clearly derived from the offensive term “Uncle Tom,” so conservatives blasted Scott’s critics for invoking the insult, plus they ripped Twitter for not shutting it down as a topic.

Fox News’ John Roberts was among those who took note of “Uncle Tim” being allowed to trend for hours, but he eventually noted that topic was pulled down. He also said he received a statement from Twitter that recognized the phrase as a violation of their policies.

And – just like that – @Twitter has now blocked the racist slur against Sen. Scott from trending. Some 11 hours later.

— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) April 29, 2021

.@Twitter statement to @FoxNews : "we are blocking the phrase you referenced from appearing in Trends. This is in line with our policies on Trends, specifically: We want Trends to promote healthy conversations on Twitter."

— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) April 29, 2021

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