Biden, under fire on race, apologises for remarks on segregationists

After spending weeks under fire for his decades-long history on race and civil rights, Joe Biden on Saturday gave the most forceful defence yet of his record, emphasising his time as vice president to Barack Obama, and did something he had resisted in the past — apologise for warmly reminiscing about his working relationships with Southern segregationists.

Biden, who had been defiant about those remarks and is often reluctant to issue apologies for his past positions, told a heavily African American audience gathered in South Carolina, a crucial early-voting state, that he regretted his comments, which had incited backlash from many Democrats.

He also used his speech to draw contrasts with some of the candidates in the Democratic presidential primary who are to his left, and to defend his broader philosophy of working “within the system” to “get things done for the least among us,” even when that means dealing, he said, “with those who we find repugnant.”

“Now, 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?” he said. “Yes, I was. I regret it. I’m sorry for any of the pain and misconception I may have caused anybody.”

The room broke into applause, drowning out Biden. But, he asked the crowd, should “that misstep define 50 years of my record for fighting for civil rights, racial justice in this country?”

“I hope not,” he said, as some in the crowd murmured “no.” Biden added: “I don’t think so. That just isn’t an honest assessment of my record.”

The remarks came during Biden’s first public event of a weekend trip to South Carolina, a state with a heavily African American Democratic electorate, where Obama is beloved.

It is a state where Biden has enjoyed significant goodwill tied to his time in the Obama administration. And his visit comes amid recent scrutiny of his civil rights record and slipping national poll numbers following his first Democratic debate of the 2020 primary season and its heated exchanges over busing and race.

On Saturday, before a crowd that appeared sympathetic and often enthusiastic, Biden sought to put his record on issues like the 1994 Crime Bill — which many associate with mass incarceration — or his dealings with segregationist lawmakers, in what he cast as historical context. He argued that throughout his career he was simply being pragmatic, an approach he continues to embrace even as many of his opponents suggest it is not possible to negotiate with today’s Republican Party.

“Everything they stood for offended me,” he said of the segregationists, who were largely Southern Democrats. “They represented everything that I ran against. It would have been nice if the day President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, they and everything they stood for had been removed from the Senate, and from the political landscape of America. That’s not the real world.”

He also worked to focus attention on his time serving under Obama.

“It’s as if my opponents want you to believe I served from 1972 until 2008 — and then took a hiatus for the next eight years,” he said. “They don’t want to talk much about my time as vice president of the United States.”

“I was vetted by he and 10 serious lawyers he appointed” to look at “every single thing” in his record, “from finances to anything I had done, everything,” Biden said of Obama. “And he selected me. I’ll take his judgment about my record, my character my ability to handle the job over anyone else’s.”

For weeks, Biden’s aides had watched in frustration as much of the conversation around the former vice president had centred not on his time in administration — which is how voters know him best — but on controversies dating back to the 1970s.

Biden had brought up those relationships with segregationists as he fondly recalled what he characterised as a more civil time in the Senate at a fundraiser last month. He has a habit of telling stories that date back decades, and that can sometimes sound off-key in today’s more progressive Democratic Party.

But the speech was a new effort to focus on a forward-looking message, after spending the Fourth of July in Iowa locked in a back-and-forth with Sen. Kamala Harris of California over the issue of federally mandated busing.

“I know that many want this campaign to be about my past,” he said. “I get it. That’s the game. But this isn’t a game. Every one of you know, no matter who you’re for, know in your bones, this election is different.”

Some in the friendly audience made clear they were not interested in relitigating Biden’s record on race, even though the issue remains important to many in the party, including to some younger people of colour.

“I thought her comments were unnecessary and out of place,” said Irvin Williams, 81, of Harris’ comments about Biden’s record on busing. He and his wife, who are African American, said they were deciding between Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. “If he said it, it’s how many years ago? If that was his position, then so be it. He’s done a lot of good things for people in this country.”

Eloise Conyers, who turns 64 on Sunday, said she was leaning toward Biden “for now” but also likes Harris.

“I support her point of view,” Conyers said, adding that Biden did not “address it effectively” in the debate. But, she said, “I know from his record and what he has done, he really supports equal rights for others.”

Biden also made clear that in contrast to some of his more liberal opponents, who support eliminating private health insurance in favour of more expansive government-supported health care coverage, he is not calling for revolutionary change on issues like the Affordable Care Act, noting his support for a public option.

It was an implicit contrast with those who would support bolder change as part of proposals like “Medicare for all” and a sign of his increased willingness to engage with his opponents rather than keeping his focus on President Donald Trump.

“We don’t have time,” he said of those who want to “start over.”

At least one rival campaign is already signalling that it does not plan to let Biden move on from his past so easily.

“Every candidate’s record will (and should) be scrutinised in this race,” tweeted Ian Sams, the national press secretary for Harris. “It’s a competition to become President of the United States. There are no free passes.”

© 2019 New York Times News Service