Joe Biden defends comments about segregationist senators - CNNPolitics
Other candidates were critical of Biden's remarks:
I figured with such a large field of candidates, there'd be a lot of back-biting and infighting like this. By the time the Democrats finish tearing each other apart, the only one left standing to face Trump will be battered and bruised. Maybe that will still be Biden, but it appears he'll be on the hotseat for a while.
But it does seem a rather odd phrase to utter: "Not a racist bone in my body."
I've seen a familiar pattern where someone says something unfortunate or kind of dumb (such as AOC's remark about "concentration camps"), and people jump on it like a pack of wolves on a three-legged cat.
Then they either have to apologize, try to explain their remarks, or defend it to the hilt. Here, Biden isn't apologizing, but explaining while vehemently insisting that none of his bones are racist. But notice how he hasn't said a word about his pancreas or gall bladder, which might still be questionable.
(CNN)An unapologetic Joe Biden defended his remarks about working with segregationist senators on Wednesday, telling reporters that "there's not a racist bone in my body."
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, one of the former vice president's rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, had called on Biden to apologize for remarks he had made at a fundraiser Tuesday evening in New York.
"Apologize for what?" Biden told CNN when asked about Booker's call outside a fundraiser Wednesday evening in Rockville, Maryland.
"Cory should apologize," he said. "He knows better. There's not a racist bone in my body. I've been involved in civil rights my whole career."
Other candidates were critical of Biden's remarks:
Biden's Democratic presidential rivals sharply criticized his remarks Wednesday.
"You don't joke about calling black men 'boys.' Men like James O. Eastland used words like that, and the racist policies that accompanied them, to perpetuate white supremacy and strip black Americans of our very humanity," Booker said in a statement.
"Vice President Biden's relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make America a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone. I have to tell Vice President Biden, as someone I respect, that he is wrong for using his relationships with Eastland and Talmadge as examples of how to bring our country together," he added. "And frankly, I'm disappointed that he hasn't issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should."
...
"To coddle the reputations of segregationists, of people who if they had their way I would literally not be standing here as a member of the United States Senate, is -- I think it's just it's misinformed," Sen. Kamala Harris told reporters.
"To suggest that individuals who literally made it their life's work to take America back on the issue of race is a real problem for me," the California Democrat said.
Other leading contenders were similarly critical Wednesday evening.
I figured with such a large field of candidates, there'd be a lot of back-biting and infighting like this. By the time the Democrats finish tearing each other apart, the only one left standing to face Trump will be battered and bruised. Maybe that will still be Biden, but it appears he'll be on the hotseat for a while.
But it does seem a rather odd phrase to utter: "Not a racist bone in my body."
I've seen a familiar pattern where someone says something unfortunate or kind of dumb (such as AOC's remark about "concentration camps"), and people jump on it like a pack of wolves on a three-legged cat.
Then they either have to apologize, try to explain their remarks, or defend it to the hilt. Here, Biden isn't apologizing, but explaining while vehemently insisting that none of his bones are racist. But notice how he hasn't said a word about his pancreas or gall bladder, which might still be questionable.