Biden says Republicans in Congress are worse than former segregationist senator

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Biden says Republicans in Congress are worse than former segregationist senator | CNN Politics
cnn.com

President Joe Biden called out Republicans in Congress as “the party of chaos and division” and said they are “worse” than Strom Thurmond, a former South Carolina senator who ran for president as a segregationist in 1948.

“I’ve been a senator since ‘72. I’ve served with real racists. I’ve served with Strom Thurmond. I’ve served with all these guys that have set terrible records on race. But guess what? These guys are worse. These guys do not believe in basic democratic principles,” Biden said at a fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, according to the pool traveling with him. “Time and again Republicans show they are the party of chaos and division.”

Biden’s comments come as Republicans in Congress are holding still a foreign aid package that would send aid to Ukraine and Israel. The $95.3 billion foreign aid bill, which was passed by the Senate last week, still faces a showdown in the House as House Speaker Mike Johnson has told his House Republican Conference members that he is not rushing to respond to the bill.

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It would be nice if we had more to celebrate than what amounts to sick burns.

That article makes me like Biden even more. There's something to be said for someone who can respect all people and maintain his value set over his entire life.

Biden also disclosed his preference for persons over principles. Not that Biden has no principles. But he is loath to let his principles get in the way of personal connections. No amount of historical baggage was going to keep him from forming a bond with a colleague — and in Biden’s telling, Thurmond repaid that bond by standing with Biden through an episode of political peril.

Also on display in the pulpit of First Baptist Church that day was Biden’s view of politics as a two-way street, a marketplace of needs and favors in which participants can all benefit from the free exchange of chits. Except on Election Day, Biden is a “win-win” kind of guy. The “Northeast liberal” fully understood that his eulogy was a Thurmond power play from beyond the grave; the old coot turned to Biden for a fresh coat of paint on the historical record. But Biden benefited, too, from his prominent appearance as a national healer.

Uhhh, no. Segregationists don't deserve the benefit of the doubt whatsoever. You can't be a good person and simultaneously fight against people's basic human rights. Those are two completely contradictory points.

Fuck Strom and fuck Biden.

Strom Thurmond changed his mind about race relations over time. Do you think that would've happened if Biden threw up his hands and said "fuck this guy"? He relentlessly went back to Thurmond with unconditional positive regard and advocated for a better world, and that's how you make a difference, not your black or white dismissive bullshit. What even is your goal if not trying to change minds and build more equitable institutions?

Well I'm glad he changed his mind as soon as he had no power to do anything about it. Meanwhile he spent 24 hours fillibustering in favor of segregation. So yeah: fuck that guy and Biden for acting like he's done any good. Harmful actions remain even if you change your mind.

My goal is to listen to people and allow them basic human rights. Especially when I have the political power to grant it like Strom once did. It's not hard at all believe it or not.

Dude, I'm not defending Strom Thurmond in any way. I'm defending Biden treating him with respect. If you had political power, you'd realize building relationships is one of the primary mechanisms through which you get what you believe in accomplished. I bet you dismiss Lyndon Johnson out of hand the same way you do Joe Biden. Smh

You're damn right Lyndon Johnson can fuck himself. In fact Johnson can fuck himself even harder than Biden by most accounts. Vietnam was an absolute disaster for everyone involved, and that dumb shit is one of the primary reasons the US got involved and massacred a ton of innocent people.

And I don't care who you're defending or not. No part of what I believe in involves segregation/constant war crimes whatsoever. And there should be no respect given to anyone espousing or condoning such beliefs. They lost any ounce of respect they might gain as soon as they started their racist dehumanizing bullshit. The world was a better place after Strom died. The world was a better place after Johnson died.

Fuck Medicare and Medicaid, right? Fuck civil rights, voting rights, food stamps, the clean water and clean air acts, PBS, NPR, and the NTSB, right? Let me guess, you would've voted third party and see no difference between Johnson and Goldwater

Medicare and Medicaid are a bandaid that do fuck all for the current US healthcare environment. I don't give a single shit about PBS, or NPR. The NTSB would have happened regardless of administration. And I don't give a single fuck about who was up for election 1964. Johnson pulled the trigger on Vietnam and murdered millions as a result. Not that I expect you to care at all.

And it doesn't matter how I vote because I live in a hard red state in a US where the electoral college still exists. So I won't vote for Joe or Trump since Trump is a racist fuck and Biden is giving funds to genociding zionists in the middle east. Anymore dumb questions?

Edit: Not a defense of today’s Republicans, comparative damnation just as Biden did.

Worse than that piece of shit?

  • Kept himself awake to subject the Senate to over 24 continuous hours, of non-stop verbal diarrhea. Just to delay (Delay! Not stop) the inevitable passage of the Civil Rights Act. Still the record holder for filibuster
  • A ardent segregationist, and a big proponent of the ‘states rights’ argument for permitting segregation.
  • At age 22 gets the family’s house servant pregnant - she turns 16 before giving birth to his child. Strom never acknowledged Essie as his own child, but paid for her education and ‘checked in’ periodically.

Oh btw, he was a Senator representing South Carolina from 1954… through until 2003, before dying shortly after resigning.

This sounds just like today's Republicans. The difference is that current reps don't have the spine to filibuster for a day, even if it was an option. When currently, I wouldn't say many are segregationists per se, instead they are just trying to eliminate different demographics all together, and are taking away rights. Lastly, lots of pedophiles in their ranks.

Obviously this turd was no saint, but I don't think the line between him and today's fascists is very big.

I went to DC as part of a school trip in 2000 or so. My AP political science teacher was the son of a prominent Chicago politician. So we got some special tours. I remember shooting a couple baskets on the Supreme Court Justices' private basketball court. And I remember wondering how often any of those old fucks shot hoops in there.

We also got a tour of the senate where we were able to wander around freely on the senate floor. It was pretty damn cool. Strom Thurmond's seat was in the front, and I stole his pencil. It was a regular #2 pencil, but it said united states senate on it instead of a brand. And it was full of chew marks.

This is the best summary I could come up with:


These guys do not believe in basic democratic principles,” Biden said at a fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, according to the pool traveling with him.

The least popular President to seek re-election is now so desperate and so underwater in the polls he’s playing the race card from the bottom of the deck.”

Biden has faced criticism in the past for his comments about some senators who supported segregation.

He spoke at a tribute for Thurmond’s 90th birthday in 1993 where he praised him by comparing the former South Carolina senator to Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

But the existential threat to humanity is climate,” Biden told those gathered at the fundraiser.

CNN previously reported the president has personally directed his senior campaign aides in recent days to focus more aggressively on Trump’s inflammatory comments.


The original article contains 458 words, the summary contains 133 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

As a Democrat since the 60's (assuming he had opinions before being in office), wouldn't he have been one of those segregationists? When exactly did the racists all flip over to the Republican party?

Civil Rights Act era. The republicans decided to campaign on racism, called it the southern strategy.

Biden, who was incredibly new in the world of politics in the late 1960's, worked with under a Republican before being asked by the Republican party to run for them. He turned them down citing Nixon's views on race and his southern strategy, as Nixon was the person who had Republican party support.

And I should know a thing or two about former segregationist senators, being one myself

That's it, keep overusing the term and inflating the meaning, maybe call him a fascist too. Keep slandering people not pure enough. Let the hate flow through you.

Can you explain, please?

Biden was against busing for school desegregation.

Without that and with the existing racist housing policies, it would have effectively prevented school desegregation.

Strum Thurmmond gave the longest fillibuster, and it was against civil rights.

Biden and Strum were friends, to the point Biden even gave a eulogy at his funeral.

You know that saying about how when you see four guys sitting at a table and one's wearing a nazi uniform?

Biden was super chummy with those old racists, so for him it was more like he was the only one out of uniform. Seriously, don't you remember the last primary? He kept talking about how they're all his friends and get along so well.

He just didn't know they didn't give a fuck about him after Obama. They only liked him because sometimes he pulled a Manchin.

I cant imagine being judged for somethi g i did 50 years ago, as the basis for the person I am today.

I really am not a fan of Biden, but come on, bringing up shit that happened half a century ago is really manipulative. It's as if you're saying that your actions as a 30 year old are representative of the person you are at 85, which simply isn't true.

He gave the eulogy in 2003.

What did he say in the eulogy that you didn't like?

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4678933/user-clip-biden-eulogy-strom-thurmond

It's the act not the words.

Don't give eulogies for white supremacists, they do not deserve respect.

He had a platform here to speak about racism and people growing and changing positively over time, why would he not speak to this? Have you even listened to it, or are you just riffing off vague conceptualizations?

Strom Thurmond's views definitely softened over time, and I have no doubt people like Joe Biden contributed to that. What are you doing to change hearts and minds?

>It’s as if you’re saying that your actions as a 30 year old are representative of the person you are at 85, which simply isn’t true.

i'm all about second chances, but maybe we play it safe about letting racists have power

i’m all about second chances, but maybe we play it safe about letting racists have power

We don't have a choice about that; every viable candidate is a racist.

Racism is not an immutable concept. People are not either “racists” or “not racists”. Racism is a behaviour that people engage in.

Calling people ‘a racist’ implies that that’s all they’ve ever been and that’s all they’ll ever be. It leaves no room for improvement. Don’t call people ‘a racist’, call their behaviour racist.

People can grow and change. I’ve met a good handful of people who were raised in households that engender conservatism, racism and sexism who have been able to deprogram that bullshit and become well-rounded human beings who care about social justice. When they were young, you’d have incorrectly called them ‘a racist’ and may have driven them further down the conservative rabbit hole.

The way we speak to and about one another needs to get better. We need to identify that people are flexible and have capacity for change if we ever want to see that change. People cannot be bullied away from these positions, they need to be guided.

Well, the eulogy was 2003...

And the 2020 primary he wouldn't shut up about how great friends he is with Republican senators.

It only changed when they gave him the cold shoulder.

I mean, really, do you think Thurmond was better?

As bad as shit is now, it was much worse for minorities back in the 50s/60s. And while Biden didn't get to the Senate till the 70s, he made quick friends with the older Republicans that had been in power then.

You can't play the "people change" card decades before they changed.

I am friends with a bunch of people that I don't share views with. I have some friends that support trump, does that suddenly mean I support trump? Absolutely no, it doesn't. I'm just saying, his actions now are what we should judge him on.

As for becoming friends with people in congress, that's called politics dude. You become friends with the people around you to further your own career. That goes for any career... Am I talking to teenagers here? Sheesh.

In this analogy you'd be friends with trump tho...

Like, do you have any idea what know kind of person Thurmmond was?

Nobody is friends with Trump, I'm pretty sure even his own kids pretend to tolerate him.

I mean, really, do you think Thurmond was better?

Better than people who are racist and fascist traitors? Yes, obviously.

Your question is like asking if negative eleventy-billion is a bigger number than negative infinity.

Jesus...

People are really out there running around America thinking Strum Thurmond wouldn't have overthrown the government if he thought he had half a chance?

You wouldn't be interested in buy a bridge in Brooklyn would you?

Biden denounced busing and actively worked against it because it's "bad for the communities"

Busing as in migrant busing? That's not segregation in the common meaning.

Race-integration busing. i.e allowing black kids to go to white neighborhood schools.

Oh I've never heard of that, will look it up when I'm back home

Oh I’ve never heard of that

Let me guess: you went to school in a conservative area?

No, I'm just not from the city. My county's voted Democrat in every election since 2000.

With his confusing rhetoric about the border and now that... Is his PR team that desperate to get red votes? He himself don't usually makes statements like that.

What the fuck are you talking about?

See other comments about the latter. He compares racists he worked with (from the times conservatives adore) to the current gen that doesn't sound really impressive. The first one is that he promised to limit the stream of immigrants but now it's unkown how much and on what principles: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-weighs-invoking-executive-authority-stage-border-crackdown-212f/

Biden is saying the Russian backed traitor Republicans in Congress are worse than racists.

He's yet to say about an obvious russian trace and only soundboarded it via ex-congressman to test the reaction: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pelosi-stark-warning-putin-war-answer/story?id=82850267 Like politicians always do when they have time to prepare.

If you'd like to continue this argument, I'd ask you to address my first comment in a tree.

It's really hard to believe that this is a statement they wanted to put out there.

  1. Reminds people that he's really old and has been in government longer than most people have been alive.
  2. Reminds people he was friends with those real racists.
  3. Reminds people of his long history and own troubling past with racist politics.
  4. Compares modern Republicans unfavorably to old racists, but not in that they're more racist, but that they don't believe in democracy. Maybe, if forced, people could come to the same conclusion about which of those things is worse, but it's just not a great look to compare racism as being the not-as-bad thing.

This has to be one of those statements that strikes these egotistical old men and makes them think "I'm brilliant, no need to second guess, just say it" while their aide just looks on horrified.

Yep. You definitely think you're brilliant and don't need to second guess this

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