‘CIVILITY’

Biden: Segregationist Senator Never Called Me ‘Boy’

The 2020 contender fondly recalls two segregationists while talking up his ability to “bring people together.”

Joe Biden raised eyebrows on Tuesday night by citing his experience with two segregationist senators to call for more “civility” in politics. Speaking at a fundraiser in New York City, the 2020 Democratic front-runner said he had served with Sens. James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia, both Democrats who opposed desegregation, and still managed to find compromise with them despite disagreements. “I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland,” Biden said, before imitating a Southern drawl. “He never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son.’” “At least there was some civility,” Biden continued. “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.” “Folks, I believe one of the things I’m pretty good at is bringing people together,” he said. This is not the first time Biden has invoked his past experience with Eastland. While campaigning for then-Alabama Senate candidate Doug Jones in 2017, Biden shared a story in which he recalled “[Eastland] never called me ‘senator.’... He called me ‘son.’”