SPECIAL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS CONVERSATION WITH THE CANDIDATE. AND NOW US SENATOR TIM SCOTT. HELLO AND WELCOME TO OUR CONVERSATION WITH THE CANDIDATE SERIES. I’M ADAM SEXTON. AND TODAY WE’RE JOINED BY TIM SCOTT, THE US SENATOR FROM SOUTH CAROLINA. WE’LL BE GETTING TO KNOW WHERE HE STANDS ON KEY ISSUES, OF COURSE, AT THE START OF OUR SHOW, I’LL BE ASKING THE CANDIDATES SOME QUESTIONS. AND THEN AFTER A BREAK, WE’LL HAVE OUR STUDIO AUDIENCE ASK THEIR QUESTIONS IN A TOWN HALL FORMAT. BUT BEFORE WE BEGIN WITH THAT, LET’S TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT THE CANDIDATE’S BIOGRAPHY. TIM SCOTT HAS REPRESENTED SOUTH CAROLINA AS A US SENATOR SINCE 2013. SCOTT IS THE RANKING MEMBER ON THE BANKING HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE. HIS SIGNATURE LEGISLATION, THE 2017 OPPORTUNITY ZONES, HAS SPURRED $75 BILLION WORTH OF INVESTMENT IN STRUGGLING COMMUNITIES. PREVIOUSLY, SCOTT SERVED IN THE US HOUSE. HE FIRST ENTERED POLITICS DURING A 1995 SPECIAL ELECTION FOR THE CHARLESTON COUNTY COUNCIL AND ALSO SERVED IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LEGISLATURE. IN HIS RUN FOR PRESIDENT. SCOTT HAS CALLED FOR A REPUBLICAN MESSAGE OF UNITY AND OPTIMISM AND HAS SAID A CHILDS ZIP CODE SHOULDN’T DETERMINE THEIR ACCESS TO QUALITY SCHOOLS. SCOTT GRADUATED FROM CHARLESTON SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND BUILT HIS OWN SMALL BUSINESS BEFORE ENTERING PUBLIC SERVICE. SENATOR TIM SCOTT, THANKS FOR JOINING US ON CONVERSATION WITH THE CANDIDATE. THANK YOU, ADAM. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. SO LET’S START WITH THE STATE OF THIS PRIMARY RACE. YOU’RE NOT IN SUCH A BAD PLACE RIGHT NOW. YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF ACTIVISTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE WHO, LIKE YOU, YOU’VE GOT A LITTLE BASE TO BUILD FROM IN THE POLLS. YES. I’M JUST CURIOUS, THOUGH, YOU’VE GOT TRUMP AT THE VERY TOP OF THIS AND THEN DESANTIS SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THE PACK AND MR. TRUMP. SO HOW DO YOU GET FROM WHERE YOU ARE TO WHERE YOU NEED TO BE? WELL, WE CONTINUE TO TELL THE STORY THAT AMERICA CAN DO FOR ANYONE WHAT SHE HAS DONE FOR ME, MY GOAL IS TO RESTORE HOPE, CREATE OPPORTUNITIES, AND TO DEFEND AND PROTECT THE AMERICA THAT WE LOVE. FOR ME, THAT STARTS ON OUR SOUTHERN BORDER. MORE THAN 7000 AMERICANS IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES TO FENTANYL. IT IS TIME FOR US TO CLOSE THE SOUTHERN BORDER AND USE AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY TO SURVEIL THE BORDER TO STOP FIGHTING ALL FROM DESTROYING FAMILIES ACROSS THIS COUNTRY. TO ME, THAT IS PART OF WHAT MAKES THIS CAMPAIGN SO IMPORTANT THAT WE CAN DO SOMETHING TO SAVE AMERICAN LIVES. AND I BELIEVE THAT AN OPTIMISTIC, POSITIVE MESSAGE ANCHORED IN COMMON SENSE CONSERVATIVE ISM HAS A VERY BRIGHT FUTURE IN THIS GREAT STATE. AND OUR NATION AS WELL. FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT HE HAS BEEN TOLD HE IS THE TARGET IN AN INVESTIGATION OF THE JANUARY 6TH ATTACK ON THE CONGRESS. AS SOMEONE WHO WAS THERE THAT DAY AND LET’S SET ASIDE THE LEGAL CASE. WHAT LEVEL OF RESPONSIBILITY DO YOU BELIEVE HE BEARS FOR WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT I CAN TELL YOU, JANUARY 6TH WAS A DARK DAY FOR OUR NATION. AND I WILL SAY, AS A PERSON WHO WAS TARGETED ON THAT DAY, I’LL NEVER FORGET TAKING MY JACKET OFF, ROLLING MY SLEEVES UP AND FINDING A FEW PINS TO DEFEND MYSELF. PRESUMABLY, PRESUMABLY UNTIL DIED. I HOLD THE FOLKS WHO BROKE INTO THE CAPITOL WITH ILL WILL IN THEIR HEARTS, DESTROYING PROPERTY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS. I DON’T HOLD THE FORMER PRESIDENT WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP AT THE CAPITOL AND THREATENED MY LIFE AS RESPONSIBLE. SO FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, 99% OF THE FOLKS WHO SHOWED UP AT THE CAPITOL WERE THERE TO EXERCISE THEIR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS. THOSE WHO BROKE INTO THE CAPITOL DESTROYED PROPERTY. AND THEN WE’RE WILLING TO CHASE THOSE OF US IN THE SENATE CHAMBERS. I HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE, EVEN THOUGH FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP OR PRESIDENT TRUMP AT THE TIME TWEETED BE THERE WILL BE WILD. THERE’S NO LEVEL OF CULPABILITY THERE. I THINK THERE’S NO LEVEL OF CULPABILITY. THE QUESTION I’M ANSWERING IS THE ONE THAT I THINK IS AS RELEVANT, WHICH IS THAT WHO DO I HOLD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS ON THAT DAY? I CAN ONLY HOLD RESPONSIBLE THE VERY PEOPLE WHO THREATEN MY LIFE AND THE FORMER PRESIDENT DID NOT THREATEN MY LIFE, ACCORDING TO THE IN 2021, THERE WERE A RECORD SETTING NUMBER OF GUN RELATED INJURIES IN THIS COUNTRY. YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY A SECOND AMENDMENT SUPPORTER AND SUPPORT GUN RIGHTS. I’M JUST CURIOUS, THOUGH, WHAT CAN OR SHOULD THE CONGRESS DO TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF GUN RELATED INJURIES AND DEATHS THAT WE’RE SEEING? AND AS PRESIDENT, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS I’D SAY IS WE SHOULD HAVE A SERIOUS CONVERSATION ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS THAT IS AN EPIDEMIC ACROSS THIS NATION. IT MANIFESTS ITSELF IN TWO VERY CLEAR FORMS. NUMBER ONE, WE TALKED ABOUT THE 70,000 AMERICANS WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES TO FENTANYL, WHILE MORE THAN 100,000 AMERICANS HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF OVERDOSES. I WAS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE IN 2018 BEFORE I EVER THOUGHT ABOUT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID, IF YOU RECALL, WE VISITED FIRE STATIONS WHERE NARCAN WAS BECOMING MORE READILY AVAILABLE, THAT THERE WAS A 24 OVER SEVEN LOOK THAT THIS STATE DECIDED TO DO THE RIGHT THING, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE SAVED AS MANY LIVES AS POSSIBLE AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I THINK WE HAVE TO TAKE A SERIOUS LOOK AT HOW MANY LOSS OF BEDS THAT WE HAVE ACROSS THIS COUNTRY FROM A MENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE OVER THE LAST FOUR DECADES, WE’VE SEEN THIS PRECIPITOUS DROP IN THE AVAILABILITY OF PLACES FOR FOLKS TO GO OVER 600,000 LOST BEDS OR SITES FOR THOSE FOLKS WHO ARE GOING THROUGH MENTAL HEALTH EPISODES. SECOND THING, WHEN WE TALK, WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT IS THE FACT THAT MORE THAN 30,000 GUN RELATED DEATHS IN THIS NATION, OVER HALF OF THEM SUICIDES. ONE MORE INDICATION OF THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS THAT WE ARE EXPERIENCING TODAY AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, I WOULD SIGN LEGISLATION LIKE THE LEGISLATION I SPONSORED AS A SENATOR THAT WOULD PROVIDE $38 BILLION TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY SAFER, TO MAKE OUR SCHOOLS SAFER, AND TO MAKE OUR KIDS SAFER. WE WOULD HAVE MORE RESOURCE OFFICERS IN OUR SCHOOLS. WE WOULD PROVIDE STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT WITH THE RESOURCES NECESSARY TO MAKE SURE THEY COMBAT VIOLENT CRIME, SPECIFICALLY ON OUR SCHOOL CAMPUSES AND BEYOND. ALL RIGHT. SENATOR TIM SCOTT THINK THAT’S ENOUGH QUESTIONS FOR ME FOR NOW. LET’S GET TO THOSE TOWN HALL VOTERS. THANKS FOR GETTING OUT HERE. WE APPRECIATE IT, SIR. COMING UP AFTER THE BREAK, WE’LL BRING OUR STUDIO AUDIENCE INTO THIS CONVERSAT