‘Tough And Loud Was Not Enough’: Tim Scott Takes a Swipe at Trump-Era GOP Losing ‘Seven Out of The Last Eight National Elections’

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) joined Fox News’s Trey Gowdy to discuss his 2024 presidential bid and look back a bit at last week’s first GOP debate of the cycle.

Gowdy and Scott discussed the tone of the debate and lamented it was out of control at times. “I will give you one other observation. I think sometimes people mistake decency and kindness for a lack of resolve. Sometimes people confuse fighting with being cruel. Is there a place for a happy warrior, a warrior in modern-day politics? Can you be a rule follower, be fair in your critiques, and still be successful in politics?” Gowdy asked Scott, who is campaigning on positive messaging.

“Oh, absolutely. You can certainly. As you know, I grew up in some really tough neighborhoods. You’ve got to be tough to get out of the neighborhoods that I grew up in. The question I keep asking myself is tough enough?” Scott replied, adding:

And for the Republican Party, the answer is really clear. We’ve lost seven out of the last eight national elections, and 2022 was a disaster. If tough and loud was enough, we’d be winning election after election after election. But our results have unfortunately been exactly the opposite. I think it is time for an optimistic, positive message anchored in conservatism with a backbone. The more you push me, the tougher I get. That’s good news from my perspective for the next president of the United States.

I look forward to having more conversations, more opportunities to talk about the issues that people in Iowa and New Hampshire are talking about. They’re talking about every county being a border county because our southern border is unsafe, insecure and wide open.

Scott continued and took some digs at President Joe Biden’s record. As the conversation wound down, Gowdy pressed Scott on whether or not in future debates he would fight for more talking time. Scott assured Gowdy, saying “there’s no doubt I will.”

Watch the full clip above via Fox News.

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