Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) sat down with Resurgent Editor-in-Chief Erick Erickson at today’s morning session at The Gathering.

Erick asked Senator Scott a multitude of questions ranging from how free enterprise influences his policymaking decisions to how he got started in politics to criminal justice reform to alleviating poverty.

“I’m a guy that was born in poverty, raised in a single-parent household,” said Senator Scott.

“I have two major blessings,” he added. “One was a small business owner, a Chick-fil-A operator— thank god for Chick-fil-A!— who taught me everything, that all things were possible for anyone from anywhere at anytime if you apply yourself.”

He said his first foray into politics was in student council, after he was told he has the gift of gab and needed to use it for good.

The senator also praised President Trump for rolling back burdensome regulations and pushing criminal justice reform.

“We have almost $30 billion [in] private sector money coming back to the poorest, most distressed communities where the poverty rate is over 30%,” he said.

On reparations:

.@SenatorTimScott telling @EWErickson the problem of reparations push by Democrats and what to do instead to bolster those in minority communities at @resurgent Gathering. #RG2019 pic.twitter.com/7jxrZ6mOhQ — Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) August 2, 2019

On debt/entitlement:

The conservative senator, who boasts a 84% lifetime conservative voting score, touts his life story as a testament to conservatism’s success.

The junior senator from South Carolina was appointed to serve in the U.S. Senate in 2013 by then-Governor Nikki Haley after Jim DeMint retired. He won a special election in 2014 and then won a full term in 2016.

Scott previously served in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. Prior to that, he served one term in the South Carolina General Assembly from 2009 to 2011 and served in the Charleston County council from 1996 to 2008.