With the announcement of Senator Tim Scott’s entry into the 2024 Republican primary, details from a forthcoming book by Washington Post reporter Ben Terris have resurfaced, shedding light on an intriguing anecdote about the senator. Terris’s upcoming book, titled “The Big Break: The Gamblers, Party Animals, and True Believers Trying to Win in Washington While America Loses Its Mind,” delves into the lives of Washington power players who have navigated the tumultuous political landscape of recent years.
In a promotional effort for the book, Terris recalled an interview with Senator Tim Scott, in which he posed a rather personal question about the senator’s virginity. Scott, who has based his campaign message on his religious convictions and a positive vision for America, reportedly responded to Terris’s inquiry by stating:
“I’m not talking about my sex life with Ben Terris,” before excusing himself to use the restroom.
Terris acknowledged that the question was undoubtedly awkward and explained that he had prepared himself beforehand on how to broach the subject. The interview took place during a 2012 profile on Scott, during which the senator hinted to Terris that he was no longer a virgin.
The profile, published 11 years ago, highlighted Scott’s opposition to premarital sex and his claims from earlier in his political career that he had never engaged in sexual contact with a woman. When asked if his vow of abstinence until marriage had withstood the challenges of his political career, Scott admitted that it had not.
According to Scott,
“The Bible’s right. You’re better off to wait. I just wish we all had more patience.” Despite his personal experience, Scott made it clear that he did not endorse his own behavior, emphasizing that “At the end of the day, the Bible is very clear: abstinence until marriage. Not to do so is a sin.”
As Terris’s book is set to be released, the revelation about Scott’s past statements on abstinence and his subsequent admission adds another layer of interest to his current presidential campaign. It offers a glimpse into the personal beliefs and struggles that have shaped Scott’s journey in politics, providing a deeper understanding of the man behind the political figure.
(It wasn’t a completely random question. He had spent his young adult life preaching abstinence until marriage. He’d give talks and mention that he was saving himself until marriage, and during my interview with the then-congressman he was, and continues to be unmarried.)
— Ben Terris (@bterris) May 22, 2023
It’s an aggregation of the profile I wrote for National Journal
— Ben Terris (@bterris) May 22, 2023
One more thing… It was such an awkward question to ask that I wrote myself a script: You used to preach about the virtue of no sex until marriage… is that a virtue that you still adhere to today?”
Ultimately he implied he did not.
“I just wish we all had more patience.”
— Ben Terris (@bterris) May 22, 2023
