Weighing into the controversy over Joe Biden’s comments about segregationists, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to sarcasm and argued that he gave cover for “racists” in the 1970s.
“If you ignore racism and if you don’t address issues of race with racists, then everything is fine, right?” Ocasio-Cortez told Politico on Wednesday. “That’s how you work with segregationists: By not confronting the racism and their institutionalization of second-class citizenship and a lack of fully recognizing African Americans.”
She added that the former vice president’s campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination was problematic for liberals. “Between this, between the Hyde Amendment, concerning comments towards women, towards African American people — it justly creates anxiety if there’s going to be tone-deaf comments towards immigrants, towards Latin American people, towards LGBTQ communities,” she said.
At a Tuesday fundraiser, Biden, unprompted, brought up Sens. James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia, both of whom had a history of racism, as an example of a time when there was “civility” in politics. While Biden didn’t defend their standpoints, many found his statements problematic.
Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, the two black presidential candidates out of 23 running, criticized Biden.
“I have a great deal of respect for Vice President Biden,” Harris told reporters outside the Capitol. “But to coddle the reputations of segregationists, of people who, if they had their way, I would literally not be standing here as a member of the United States Senate is … misinformed and it’s wrong.”
Biden appeared defiant to the backlash, asking what he had to apologize for when he addressed it Wednesday, saying angrily that Booker should apologize for suggesting he was a racist.
