Biden’s Comments About Working with Segregationists Highlight Dems’ Racist Track Record

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s recent dust-up with fellow Democrats over his past work with segregationists highlights a sad history members of their party would like Americans to forget.

Appearing to work in complicity or ignorance, multiple mainstream media outlets characterized Biden’s comments about working with former Democratic segregationist Sens. Herman Talmadge of Georgia and James Eastland of Mississippi in the 1970sz as his efforts to reach across the aisle.

“Reaching across the aisle” is a phrase used when lawmakers find common ground with those of the opposing party. Biden clearly wasn’t doing that in the examples he offered at a New York fundraiser this week.

MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt corrected the record on Wednesday after she mistakenly referred to Talmadge and Eastland as Republicans.

Democrats, including Biden himself, are persistent in their efforts to brand President Donald Trump, and Republicans more broadly, racist. They played the same card against Republican presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan when they were in office.

Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, who serves as Biden’s campaign co-chair, drew a parallel between his candidate partnering with “unsavory and racists characters” in the past to what Richmond and fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus are doing now in working with Trump, in some instances.

“(W)hether it’s the black caucus working with President Trump last year to get criminal justice done or working with some very unsavory, racist characters back in the day, the goal is to get things done,” Richmond said.