Never content to just stick to his guns, “Sleepy” Joe Biden — as the president has named him — has once again flip-flopped on a previous statement in order to appease the woke-scolds.
After a serious shellacking at the hands of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) at the recent Democratic Party presidential debate, the former vice president now regrets ever praising two white segregationists as examples of political civility.
Giving a speech in South Carolina over the weekend, Biden acknowledged that his remarks may indeed have been hurtful to some people, according to HuffPost.
“Was I wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that I was praising those men whom I successfully opposed time and again? Yes, I was,” Biden said. “I regret it, and I’m sorry for any of the pain or misconception maybe I caused anybody.”
In the same speech, the former vice president went on to say how he has witnessed America change throughout the decades and how he has grown through that process. “America in 2019 is a very different place than the 1970s, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “I’ve witnessed an incredible amount of change in this nation and I worked to make that change happen. And yes, I’ve changed also. I’ve grown and I think it’s good to be able to grow, to progress.”
As to why he should be president, Biden noted that while serving under former President Barack Obama he faced severe scrutiny during the vetting process.
“It was the honor of my lifetime to serve with a man who I believe was a great president, a historic figure, and most important to me ― a close friend,” Biden said. “I was vetted by he and 10 serious lawyers he appointed to go back and look at every single thing in my background … and he selected me. I will take his judgment of my record, my character, and my ability to handle the job over anyone else’s.”
After announcing his candidacy back in April, Joe Biden quickly rose to become the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination for president. In recent weeks, however, that lead has steadily tightened as more progressive-minded opponents have attacked him for being insensitive on issues like race relations — attacks which reached a fever pitch when he reminisced about his rookie days in the United States Senate, when he worked closely with two Democratic segregationists to get bills passed.
“I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland,” Biden said, reportedly in a southern accent. “He never called me boy, he always called me son.”
Sen. James O. Eastland (D-MS) fervently opposed civil rights and has been referred to as the “Voice of the White South.” Biden also held up Sen. Herman Talmadge (D-GA) as an example of political civility — a man whom Biden described as being “one of the meanest guys I ever knew.”
“Well guess what? At least there was some civility,” he said of Talmadge. “We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished. But today you look at the other side and you’re the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don’t talk to each other anymore.”
Following that, both Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) seized the opportunity to hit Biden. The attacks came to a head during the Democratic debate when Kamala Harris criticized Biden to his face for those comments. Since then, Biden’s numbers have been steadily declining. According to a Morning Consult/FiveThirtyEight poll, Biden’s support has dropped ten points since last Thursday — 41.5% to 31.5% — while Kamala Harris has jumped a full nine points — 7.9% to 16.6%.