Darrell C. Scott is an American pastor, radio station owner/host, and a former advisor to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. Scott is a co-founder of the New Spirit Revival Center in

Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. One of Cleveland's historic streetcar suburbs, it was founded as a village in 1903 and a city in 1921. History The area that is ...

. He co-founded, along with Michael D. Cohen, the

National Diversity Coalition for Trump National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Early life

Scott became a

born again To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

Christian in his 20s after a neighbor urged Scott and his wife to attend church. In 2004, St. Thomas Christian College in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, an unaccredited religious institution, awarded Scott an 'honorary doctorate'.

Career

Scott is the founder and pastor of the New Spirit Revival Center in

, which owns radio station

WCCD WCCD (1000 AM "Radio 1000") is a daytime-only radio station licensed to Parma, Ohio, and serving Greater Cleveland. It airs a religious format of urban gospel music and Christian talk and teaching programs. It is owned by New Spirit Reviv ...

AM 1000 in

Parma, Ohio Parma is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb south of Cleveland. The population was 81,146 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Parma is the List of municipalities in Ohio, seventh-most populous city in Ohio, ...

, where Scott has a daily program.

Role in the 2016 presidential election

In 2011, Donald Trump met Scott in

Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use condominium skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organiza ...

while considering a run for president. After Trump announced his candidacy, Scott was one of the first African-American pastors to support Trump and a key figure in leading other African-American pastors to attend meetings at Trump Tower. In April 2016, Scott and Donald Trump's personal attorney and campaign spokesperson Michael D. Cohen co-founded the National Diversity Coalition for Trump. The group's advisory board had leaders from American-Muslims for Trump, African-American Pastors for Trump, and Korean-Americans for Trump. Scott introduced Trump at a rally at the I-X Center before the 2016 Ohio Republican presidential primary and later hosted Trump at his church, with the event aired on ''

Hannity ''Hannity'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative television political Talk show, talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that ai ...

''. In July 2016, on the third day of the

2016 Republican National Convention The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party (United States), Republican Party chose the party's nominees for President of the United States, president and Vice President of the United Sta ...

, Scott was a keynote speaker in support of Donald Trump's nomination; Scott argued in his speech that the " Democrat Party has failed us".

Post-2016 election

After the

2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...

, Scott gave an interview to

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and described the Democratic Party as "pimps" who "pimped out the inner city" like a "pimp stands next to a prostitute". On November 30, 2016, Trump selected Scott as part of his presidential transition team. Scott publicly thanked Trump on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, which resulted in a backlash on social media. Scott was called an

Uncle Tom Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen in the Victorian era as a ground-breaking literary attack against the dehumanization of slaves. Tom is a deeply religious Chri ...

and was accused of taking money in exchange for his support of Trump. In January 2017,

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Marc Lamont Hill Marc Lamont Hill (born December 17, 1978) is an American academic, author, activist, and television personality. He is a professor of urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. He is the host of '' UpFront'' on Al Jazeera Eng ...

characterized Scott and other members of Trump's diversity team as "mediocre Negroes" during a

Don Lemon Don Lemon (born March 1, 1966) is an American television journalist best known for being a host on CNN from 2014 until 2023. He anchored weekend news programs on local television stations in Alabama and Pennsylvania during his early days as a jo ...

CNN Tonight ''CNN Tonight'' is the title of several news programs that were broadcast by U.S. cable network CNN. The ''CNN Tonight'' branding has primarily been used for transitional programs aired by CNN in the evening and prime time hours as part of chang ...

segment. On February 1, 2017, Trump responded with enthusiasm during a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...

event to Scott's suggestion that Chicago gang leaders wanted to meet to help reduce gun violence. On April 18, 2017, Scott hosted a meeting at The St. Regis Washington, D.C. with six Chicago residents that hoped to start a community service called "Stronger Together" to rehabilitate housing and start new technical high schools teaching skills such as producing rap music. On August 1, 2018, Scott said during a White House gathering of faith leaders that he thought Trump would be "the most pro-Black president" in his lifetime.

Post-2020 election

During the

2020 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...

, Scott falsely claimed that votes were stopped from being counted. Five days after the 2020 election, Scott stated that fraud caused Trump's loss but also cited Trump's "unforced errors," including how Trump talked about the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, saying, "I can't be upset if we shoot ourselves in the foot."

Television appearances

Scott has appeared as a commentator on networks

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

, and

Issues and controversies

On February 2, 2017, Scott said he had "misspoken" due to lack of sleep when he stated Chicago's "top gang thugs" would "lower the body count" if new federal programs were provided. On March 3, 2017,

WEWS-TV WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of three stations that have been built and signed on ...

Channel 5 Cleveland reported Scott was being sued for back rent on a home; Scott referred to the claim as "fake".

Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service is an American news service primarily focusing on civil litigation. It offers both free and paid services. Its core audience is lawyers and law firms, who subscribe to the service;Courthouse News Service v. Schaefer', Civi ...

reported the breach is of a formal land contract and not a lease option.

Personal life

Scott is married to Belinda Scott.

References

External links

Profile
on the New Spirit Revival Center website {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Darrell C. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American Christian clergy Religious leaders from Cleveland Ohio Republicans 21st-century African-American people 2024 United States presidential electors