South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announces Rep. Tim Scott as Sen. Jim DeMint's replacement in the Senate during a news conference at the South Carolina Statehouse, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. , making him the only black Republican in Congress and the South's first black Republican senator since Reconstruction. (AP)
The president of the NAACP said on Wednesday that black Republican congressman and incoming senator Tim Scott doesn't "believe in civil rights."
Benjamin Jealous was discussing Scott's "F" score with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a measure that is "always about what's in people's hearts."
"We have Republicans who believe in civil rights -- unfortunately he is not one of them," Jealous said. "And unfortunately his party as you know, has really gone after so-called RINOs as they call them, these Republicans who believe in civil rights, again and again."
Jealous did note that "there is nothing but room for him to improve."
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) last month named Scott to replace resigning Sen. Jim DeMint (R), who announced he was leaving the Senate to head the conservative Heritage Foundation. Scott is slated to be sworn in Thursday and will be the only black member of the upper chamber.
