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Biden apologizes for comments defending segregationist senators
WASHINGTON, July 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Former US Vice President Joe Biden,
the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential
election, apologized on Saturday for comments supporting segregationist
lawmakers that had been seized on by his opponents.
A former Delaware senator who served under America’s first black president
Barack Obama, Biden stirred controversy last month when he said he’d “got
things done” with the late southern senators James Eastland and Herman
Talmadge, both of whom supported racist policies.
Eastland “never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son,'” Biden had said
in remarks that sparked condemnation from several of his competitors seeking
the Democratic nomination to face Republican President Donald Trump in next
year’s election.
Biden had remained defiant and refused to apologize, but on Saturday
reversed course.
“Was I wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that
I was praising those men who I successfully opposed, time and again? Well,
yes, I was, and I regret it. And I’m sorry for any of the pain or
misconception they may have caused anybody,” Biden said during a speech in
South Carolina.
“Should that misstep define 50 years of my record for fighting for civil
rights, racial justice in this country? I hope not,” he said.
Though he still polls at the top of the crowded Democratic field, Biden saw
his standing slip following his first debate appearance in which California
Senator Kamala Harris confronted him over racial issues.
She accused him of opposing the busing of black students to schools in
white neighborhoods during the 1970s as part of desegregation efforts, a
standout moment during the debates which stretched over two nights.
Polls released following the debates showed growing support for Harris, the
only black female in the race, while Biden’s fell.
On Friday, Biden told CNN he was surprised by Harris’s attack, but said he
wasn’t concerned because “the American people think they know me.”
BSS/AFP/MSY/0900 hrs