Justice under the George H. W. Bush administration that stated that "Farr was the primary coordinator of the 1984 'ballot security' program conducted by the NCGOP and 1984 Helms for Senate Committee. He coordinated several 'ballot security' activities in 1984, including a postcard mailing to voters in predominantly black precincts that was designed to serve as a basis to challenge voters on election day." Further explaining his vote, Scott said the Republican Party was "not doing a very good job of avoiding the obvious potholes on race in America." In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal criticized Scott, arguing that Democrats would see Farr's defeat as a "vindication of their most underhanded and inflammatory racial tactics." In a letter to the Wall Street Journal, Scott said the publication was trying to "deflect concerns" about Farr's nomination. President Trump and race relations In 2017, Scott reacted to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville by acknowledging that "Racism is real. It is alive". Asked to comment on Trump's statement that there had been "good people" on both sides at the rally and that there was "blame on both sides" for the violence that ensued, Scott said that while Trump had initially "rejected hatred, bigotry, and racism" in his "strong" comments on the ensuing Monday, his comments on Tuesday "started erasing the comments that were strong. What we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority. And that moral authority is compromised when Tuesday happens. There's no question about that [...] I'm not going to defend the indefensible." Trump invited Scott to meet with him on Wednesday, after which Scott said that Trump "was very receptive to listening. That is a key to understanding", and that he had "obviously reflected on what he's said, on his intentions and the perceptions of those comments" which were "not exactly what he intended". Scott called upon Trump to delete his tweets that attacked demonstrators against the murder of George Floyd. Scott said, "Those are not constructive tweets, without any question. I'm thankful that we can have the conversation. ... We talked about the fact that there is a constructive way to have a dialogue with a nation in this similar fashion that we had a conversation after Charlottesville, the President will listen, if you engage him with the facts of the issue". Scott also advocated that Trump delete his retweet of supporters