Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., arrives for the Senate Republicans’ lunch in the Capitol on June 12, 2024. | Source: Bill Clark / Getty
In the latest indication that Tim Scott is out of touch with the American people, the failed presidential candidate and Republican U.S. Senator from South Carolina on Thursday mounted a rigorous defense of “junk fees,” the unexpected and typically hidden corporate charges consumers are forced to pay companies for services that have been criticized as unnecessary and of little practical use.
In a brief clip going viral on social media, Scott is shown on video waxing poetic about junk fees in an apparent rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s effort “to crack down on unfair and illegal pricing,” as described by the White House.
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Scott, who has been shamelessly jockeying for the position to be Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, tried with a straight face to convince his Senate colleagues that Americans welcome junk fees and are okay with secretly being charged more than they expected to pay for a given service.
“If you say the word junk fees, you assume that those junk fees are just unnecessary,” Scott said. “I’m not sure that the average business person and/or the consumer would see the late fees, the overdraft fees, and non-sufficient fund fees as junk fees.”
Watch below.
To be sure, data released earlier this year found that nearly 90% of voters in battleground states have reported being charged junk fees, even though overall awareness of junk fees is relatively low.
On top of that, estimates have found that junk fees cost consumers about $90 million annually.
“Nearly three in four battleground constituents believe that it is important for Congress to address hidden and unexpected fees (73 percent), including 85 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of both independents and Republicans. An even larger share — 87 percent — support Congress passing a ban on hidden and unexpected fees altogether, while just 8 percent are opposed,” Navigator Research found in a report published in April. “Support for congressional action is strong across partisanship, including 95 percent of Democrats, 85 percent of independents, and 81 percent of Republicans.”
As such, the DNC quickly ripped Scott’s claims about junk fees as irresponsibly incorrect.
“Only a Trump VP contender and MAGA extremist like Tim Scott would be so shamelessly out of touch to defend junk fees and higher costs for hardworking Americans,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a statement. “While President Biden has delivered for the American people by cracking down on junk fees and lowering costs, Scott is trying to out-MAGA the rest of the veepstakes field by pushing Donald Trump’s extreme, expensive, and failed MAGAnomics agenda that puts the ultra-wealthy and mega corporations ahead of working families.”
The DNC provided more data showing American consumers’ bipartisan opposition to junk fees:
Data For Progress: “We also tested support for the Junk Fee Prevention Act, which would ban hidden or extra fees on items like cable and cell phone bills, apartment rental applications, and concert and sporting event tickets. We find that the proposal is overwhelmingly popular, with support from 77% of voters — including 81% of Democrats, 78% of Independents, and 72% of Republicans.”
Morning Consult: “A new Morning Consult survey shows Biden’s proposals have bipartisan support, with clear majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents saying Congress should pass laws limiting these so-called ‘junk fees.’ Overall, about 3 in 4 Americans support the measures.”
Navigator Research: “More than three in five independents (64%) and Republicans (62%) support Biden and Democrats’ Junk Fees Prevention Act. … Even higher shares support their plan to lower limits on credit card late fees (74% independents, 68% Republicans).”
In March, Biden announced new actions to lower costs by fighting “corporate rip-offs” like junk fees.
Among those actions were measures to end excessive credit card late fees and crack down on bulk billing junk fees to lower costs and promote competition.
It was in that context that Scott would want people to believe that junk fees are not only harmless but also not adversarial to “the average” consumer.
Lest we forget, Tim Scott is the same U.S. senator who famously said America is not a racist country, claimed welfare is harder to survive than slavery and compared racism to how Republicans are treated.
That’s the person who wants us to believe that Americans don’t mind paying junk fees.
This is America.
SEE ALSO:
Tim Scott Is Big Mad At Hush Money Verdict, Shamelessly Denies That Trump Said What He Said
Tim Scott Compares ‘Prejudiced’ Donald Trump Trial To Anti-Black Injustice In The Court System
