Huffington Post writer Andy Ostroy apologized to Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) on Wednesday after accusing the Senate’s lone African-American Republican of being used “like a manipulated prop” during President Donald Trump’s tax reform event on Tuesday.
“@SenatorTimScott, earlier I tweeted something that I now agree was unfair,” Ostroy wrote. “Senator, I regret that tweet & apologize for it. There were many other ways I should’ve and could’ve made my point.”
.@SenatorTimScott, earlier I tweeted something that I now agree was unfair. Senator, I regret that tweet & apologize for it. There were many other ways I should’ve and could’ve made my point.
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) December 21, 2017
So how bad was it? Bad.
Earlier in the day, Ostroy suggested that Scott was given a front row spot during Trump’s tax reform celebration press event in a cynical attempt to exploit his race. Scott is the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate.
“What a shocker,” wrote Ostroy, who describes himself as a political and pop culture analyst. “There’s ONE black person there and sure enough they have him standing right next to the mic like a manipulated prop. Way to go @SenatorTimScott. #trump #taxscambill”
Original tweet from HuffPo writer @AndyOstroy (now deleted) pic.twitter.com/jOuLpyXnzm
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) December 21, 2017
Like the bill or not, Scott played an integral role in the Senate putting it together and took no small amount of umbrage at being tokenized. Scott unloaded on Ostroy, causing a minor social media storm.
“Uh probably because I helped write the bill for the past year, have multiple provisions included, got multiple Senators on board over the last week and have worked on tax reform my entire time in Congress,” said Scott. “But if you’d rather just see my skin color, pls feel free.’
Uh probably because I helped write the bill for the past year, have multiple provisions included, got multiple Senators on board over the last week and have worked on tax reform my entire time in Congress. But if you'd rather just see my skin color, pls feel free. https://t.co/KLLNXqIZ3i
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) December 20, 2017
Scott’s burn is now approaching more than 20,000 retweets.
The Huffington Post did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.