Goodbye, Sen. Tim Scott! We barely knew you.

No, literally, we dont know you. If the South Carolina Republican were walking down the street wearing a hoodie with the words HI EVERYONE, IM SEN. TIM SCOTT! on the front, Id argue that still no one would know him.

And Republicans want it that way.

On Fox News Sunday Night In America with Trey Gowdy , a show watched only by Republicans, Scott announced Sunday that he is no longer running for president.

Im looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail without question, Scott told Gowdy, a former U.S. representative from South Carolina. But when I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate. I am suspending my campaign.

If Tim Scott drops out of the presidential race, does it make a sound?

Does anyone wonder why we learned of Scotts girlfriend right before he left the race? I mean, he literally introduced America to Mindy Noce, an interior designer and mother of three from Charleston, South Carolina, opening her up to scrutiny just before telling the waitress to hold the presidential campaign, I couldnt eat another bite.

A bizarre turn of events for a candidate who seemed to have the support of major donors, having accumulated some $22 million in donations and a $35 million bump into the senators super PAC, Opportunity Matters Fund, from Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle Corporation.

So if it wasnt money, then what stopped the lone Black Republican senator, who had the opportunity to possibly become the first Black GOP presidential nominee, from continuing his campaign? Well, Tim Scott is not a full-throated, full-fledged politician, as hes allowed himself to become a Republican sideshow who wasnt quite ready for the big stage.

To understand Tim Scott is to understand Americas relationship more specifically, white Americas relationship with the Black friend. Since the beginning of time, there has always been a Black friend, sometimes as a guardian (think Jim in Huckleberry Finn), or the voice of God (again, Jim in Huckleberry Finn), or just literally God (think Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty).

The main role of the Black friend has always been to propel his white counterpart. Never the main attraction, the Black friend is always a sounding board to show the moral qualities of their white protagonist. So Tim Scott has become a caricature of an archetype. When a Republican says he has a Black friend, hes referring to Tim Scott. Whenever Republicans have been accused of being racist, they bring up Tim Scott. Remember, after the massacre last year in Buffalo, New York where a white man walked into a grocery store and killed 10 Black people and wounded three more there was a huge conversation about whether America is a racist country? It was Tim Scott who argued, honestly, as the lone Black senator in the Republican Party and one of only 13 Black senators in the countrys history, that America doesnt have a race problem.

During his speech, Scott said hes experienced the pain of discrimination. But he cautioned that race is not a political weapon to settle every issue the way one side wants. This was said by a Black man who truly believes that he worked harder than other Black folks to become a member of Congress, and not that Congress has a race problem.

Scott is a lap dog who does it all for the head rubs because the white gaze is a powerful drug. He learned during his brief campaign that he wasnt ready for prime time, having spent the majority of his career as a sideshow. Prime time means that all parts of your life get examined. Im guessing Scott felt it necessary to bring out his girlfriend because he was getting tired of the speculation about his sexuality .

This is the dirty part of politics that is actually one of the only areas of true bipartisanship: minding other peoples business. Whatever Scott does in his private life is his business, and he shouldnt be forced to parade his partner as proof of anything. He should be allowed a full life with whomever he chooses, but this is the problem when youve always been an opening act.