Ex-VP ‘sorry’ for comments about segregationist senators

Former Vice President Joe Biden has apologized for using his work with segregationist senators decades ago as examples of compromise — remarks that have left him on the defensive about his civil rights record for weeks.

“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? Yes, I was,” Biden said Saturday in South Carolina. “I regret it. I’m sorry for any of the pain or misconception I may have caused anybody.”

Biden has weathered a storm of criticism for invoking the names of Democrat segregationist former U.S. Sens. James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia as an example of working with those with opposing viewpoints. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris used the comments as a launching pad to attack Biden over his record on race during the first Democratic presidential debates. And U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, another Democratic presidential hopeful, had called on Biden to apologize — which the former vice president had eschewed, until now.

Biden’s apology came during a visit to South Carolina, a key early state for candidates to build support within the black community. Biden and Harris are both expected to be in the state over the weekend.

In front of a mostly black crowd, Biden again defended his civil rights record and invoked his ties to former President Obama, saying, “Should that misstep define 50 years of my record fighting for civil rights and racial justice in this country? I hope not. I don’t think so.”

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was asked to respond to Biden’s apology in a campaign event in Littleton, N.H., Saturday.

“I think that is the right thing to do,” Klobuchar said. “We clearly have to call out segregationists, and you have to call out racist policies, so that’s the right thing to do.”

CNN reported that Booker responded to Biden’s apology, saying, “First I want to say thank you. We are at a point in our country where we need our leaders to be able to speak towards race issues without falling into a defensive posture or shifting blame. I can’t believe when that first sprouted up that Vice President Biden said I should apologize. So, I feel a sense of gratitude and we all should, I think at least, should give him that gratitude and that thanks.”