Joe Biden regrets remarks about his work with segregationist senators

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"Was it wrong a few weeks ago to give the impression to the people that I was hiring these men whom I had always opposed successfully? Yes, I was. I regret it, "Biden said on Saturday during an election campaign in South Carolina. "I'm sorry for the pain or the misconception I may have caused to someone."

Biden, 76, also said that he would accept responsibility for what had gone well with the 1994 Crime Act, which he had helped write as a Delaware senator. and that, according to Democratic critics, it would have contributed to the massive rate of US incarceration.
The Democratic presidential candidate said that he "had changed" since he was serving as a senator in the 1970s, relying on his relations with former President Barack Obama. to help him defend his record in the public service after being criticized for his previous political positions, including race issues. . He used his speech at the event in South Carolina – where black voters accounted for about 61 percent of the Democratic primary electorate in 2016 – to report on his record in civil rights and law enforcement. 39 achievements in the administration of the first black president of the country.

"I was controlled by him and chosen by him," Biden said of Obama. "I will take into account his criminal record, my character and my ability to handle work at the expense of others."

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At a fundraiser in June, Biden recalled being a member of the Senate in the 1970s with Southern Democrats opposed to civil rights and desegregation, naming including Sense. James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia, whom Biden called "one of the most naughty guys" I've ever known. "

"I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland.He never called me" boy ", he always called me" son, "he told donors .

"Well, guess what, at least there was some civility, we did it," Biden said. "We did not agree on anything, we moved things forward and we finished it."

"But today you look on the other side and you are the enemy, not the opposition, the enemy, we do not talk to each other anymore," he said. he declares.

His speech comes on Saturday after the California Senator, Kamala Harris, confronted him during the first democratic debate on these remarks, as well as his past opposition to the desegregation bus.

Biden told CNN that his position on the bus was out of context and that he did not expect Harris to attack as she did.

"I was ready for them to come after me, but I was not prepared for the person who came to me the same way as her," he said. said in an exclusive interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, broadcast on Friday.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, another 2020 Democrat candidate, also challenged Biden's comments on working with segregationist senators, calling on the former vice president to apologize and saying Biden was "wrong to use his relationship with Eastland and Talmadge as examples of bringing our country together. "
In response, Biden suggested at the time that Booker "knew better", saying, "There is no racist bone in my body". The couple also spoke on the phone last month, which Booker called "good constructive conversation".

Booker, after hearing the comments of the former Vice President on Saturday, told reporters that he felt grateful that Biden "is now talking to his past in a more sincere way and with a more great regret for some of the things that he has supported ".

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On Saturday, Biden, the leading Democratic candidate in the polls, once again highlighted his service as vice president – an experience with which he stood out in the 2020 field.

"If you look at the problems I have been attacked on, almost every one of them concerns something well before 2008. It's as if my opponents wanted you to believe that I've served between 1972 and 2008 – and then it took eight years. They do not want to talk too much about my time as vice president, "said Biden.

Ian Sams, spokesperson for the Harris campaign tweeted Saturday that "the record of each candidate will be (and should) be scrutinized thoroughly in this race," adding: "It is a contest to become President of the United States." There is no pass free. "

Biden also said Saturday that his career as an American senator had been at the forefront of change in America.

"America in 2019 is a very different place from America in the 1970s. And that's a good thing," said Biden. "I have witnessed an incredible amount of change in this country and I have worked to make that change happen, and yes, I've also changed it."

Arlette Saenz, Caroline Kenny and Dan Merica from CNN contributed to this report.

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