Cenk Uygur Slams Joe Biden's Segregationist Comments: 'Stop Bragging' About Working With Racists

Cenk Uygur Slams Joe Biden's Segregationist Comments: 'Stop Bragging' About Working With Racists

On Cuomo Prime Time, left-wing host Cenk Uygur blasted former Vice President Joe Biden’s recent comments about Congressional cooperation with segregationist senators and connected them to a larger body of problematic rhetoric on civil rights and race issues that could doom his 2020 run. “I think that Joe Biden has a real problem here,” Uygur explained. “He keeps saying that he liked working with segregationists, not just on the Democrat side. Let’s not forget, he bragged about working with [Republican Senator] Strom Thurmond, who was a deeply racist Republican who ran for president under the segregationist ticket. So he’s got to stop bragging about how much he likes racists.” Uygur went to on point out that Biden still defends his key roles in passing the 1975 anti-desegregation busing bill and the controversial 1994 crime bill. The latter ushered in severely harsh sentencing restrictions, which have had a devastating effect upon many poor and minority communities.

Host Chris Cuomo pushed back on Uyghur’s claim that Biden “likes racists,” however. “Are you being fair to him in context?” Cuomo asked. “I’m listening to you and I get the point. He didn’t say he ‘loved racists’ He said that he remembered being able to work with those guys even though he didn’t agree with what was going on and it was a statement about how nobody can work with anybody.” Cuomo added that the 1994 bill was passed in a “time of fear” and that the bill enjoyed bipartisan support among white and black members of Congress. Uygur wasn’t having it, though. He linked these latest comments to Biden’s stubborn refusal to reckon with his voting record, and warned they could prove fatal for his chances to win the 2020 Democrat nomination.

“So let’s clarify a couple things,” he said in response. “Some people who voted for the crime bill say they deeply regret it. Joe Biden is not among them. He still says he’s proud that he authored that. It’s very important that he did not change on those issues. And I did not say that he loves racists…” [In fact, he did, see above] “…I said he loves working with people on the opposite side, including racists and that’s a fact because that’s what he said. And then what I’m also worried about is that he likes working with Republicans. So I don’t want him working with [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell [R-KY] to get more tax cuts for the rich. He was in a room full of rich donors. I’m more worried about that than what he did 30, 40 years ago.”

Mediaite: Cenk Uygur Slams Joe Biden’s Segregationist Comments: ‘Stop Bragging’ About Working With Racists

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