President Donald Trump deserves credit for taking “a number of steps” in the year since the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, to “move us in a better direction,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“I think there are a number of steps that the president has taken to move us in a better direction,” Scott (pictured above) said, pointing to “actual steps” ranging from “opportunity zones to the meetings with pastors and business leaders, reducing recidivism, and without any question, the lowest African-American unemployment rate in the history of the country.”

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Saturday and Sunday marked the one-year anniversary since white nationalists and neo-Nazis attending their Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville clashed with left-wing counterprotesters in a series of violent clashes. Counterprotester Heather Heyer was killed after a white supremacist rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters. Unite the Right is holding a rally Sunday evening in Washington, D.C.

Trump fielded bipartisan backlash after he initially condemned the violence “on many sides” without singling out white supremacists and neo-Nazis. After issuing a second statement directly calling out those groups, the president defended his initial statement, insisting during a press conference that there “was blame on both sides” for the rally’s violence. He decried racism, in particular, as “evil.”

Scott, one of the nation’s most prominent Black Republicans, was troubled by Trump’s statements and met with president in September 2017. The senator told CBS News after the meeting that Trump has “obviously reflected on what he has said [about Charlottesville], on his intentions and the perception of those comments.”

Trump took to Twitter Saturday to mark the anniversary of the Charlottesville rally, writing, “The riots in Charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division. We must come together as a nation. I condemn all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to ALL Americans!

“I am proud to have fought for and secured the LOWEST African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates in history. Now I’m pushing for prison reform to give people who have paid their debt to society a second chance. I will never stop fighting for ALL Americans!” Trump added.

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Scott said on “Face the Nation” that Trump’s tweets “were a positive sign of a better direction for the nation without any question.”

“The president condemning all acts of racism and violence is a positive step in the right direction,” Scott said. “And, more importantly, after my meeting with the president … he asked me what can he do to make a difference in this country, bringing people together. I laid out something that I thought would be very powerful, and that was the opportunity zones, bringing more resources back into distressed communities.”

Trump has backed legislation investing in opportunity zones with extreme poverty rates and targeting prisoner recidivism rates and criminal justice reform.

“We celebrate the success of this economy without any question. But the reality of it is, that there are pockets in this nation where the recovery has been uneven and the opportunity zone legislation, supported by the president, will have a positive impact, a powerful impact in communities that are distressed and disproportionately communities that are black and brown,” Scott insisted.

Scott also praised Trump for meeting with black pastors and business leaders and investing “more time and energy in that direction.”

Related: Trump Doubles Down: ‘There’s Blame on Both Sides’ for Charlottesville Violence

“And then another bright spot is the president’s plan and objective to work with both the House and the Senate to reduce recidivism which, well, focuses on prison reform,” Scott said.

When “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan asked Scott if he believes the Republican Party’s “party of Lincoln” legacy “is being compromised by the party of Trump,” Scott disagreed.

“I think we are going through some hard times without any question. The rhetoric is not always helpful. And the fact of the matter is the rhetoric comes from both sides — that we can name some Congress members on the Left who have said some poisonous and toxic things, and I can certainly name folks on the Right who have done the same thing,” Scott said.

“There are strong signs from the White House to both houses of Congress that we are making progress as the party of Lincoln,” Scott added. “But the fact of the matter is that I’m more interested and more concerned with the progress of one nation and one American family than I am just the Republican Party.”