Whoopi Goldberg Defends Biden Over Segregationist Comments: 'You Can't Say He's Racist'

[highplainsdem]

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/whoopi-goldberg-defends-biden-over-segregationist-comments-you-cant-say-hes-racist/

Whoopi Goldberg led The View on Thursday with a defense of Joe Biden and his comments about working with segregationists.

The former vice president is facing criticism for his remarks about how civility in politics is possible because he managed in the past to work with segregationist senators. As Goldberg noted that Biden’s Democratic rivals are pummeling him for his comments, she let out a deep sigh before remarking that there used to be a lot of racists and civil rights opponents in Congress, and “this is the world as it was”:

“You have to work with people you don’t like, and if you are in an entire environment where there is lots of different people that you don’t like, you have to figure out what to do. Listen, beat Biden in the debates, you know? If you can beat him, beat him. Don’t try to make him out a racist. You don’t like some of the stuff he has done? Say that, but you can’t say he’s racist. He sat for eight years with a black guy. Did he have a noose in the background? Come on! There are real racists out there…Nobody who’s running has a perfect record. There’s something to find on everybody.”

Ana Navarro said rivals like Cory Booker (D-NJ) are “taking advantage of the situation to try to get attention.” While Navarro agreed that Biden isn’t a racist, she also said, “I don’t like that he did this because he’s dragging up these dead racists instead of us talking about the live racists that were at the Donald Trump rally.”

Sunny Hostin agreed that Biden has “racial blindspots” that could be problematic when it comes to securing votes among African Americans, but Goldberg continued to defend Biden, saying “this is what [he had] to do” back then. When the show came back from break, Meghan McCain also found it “ridiculous” for Democrats to hold Biden’s history against him in this way in order to engage in “Democrat on Democrat cannibalization.”

-snip-

Video at the link.

I watched that part of The View this morning, didn't find video of it till just now.

[Gothmog]

1. I hate it when I agree with Morning Joe

Link to tweet

[elleng]

4. Thanks.

[Scurrilous]

33. Joe nailed it this time.

[George II]

2. I saw it live, too. That was beautiful, especially when she pointed out that he worked with Obama..

...for eight years.

It's the first time I think I've seen all five of them pretty much in agreement.

[HopeAgain]

3. Regardless of what he meant

He keeps saying thing like this and creating the firestorms in the first place. What is this, the fourth or fith time since he announced that people have had to Bidensplain what he really meant?

[Demit]

8. "No one ever doubts that I mean what I say. The problem is I sometimes say all that I mean."

—That's what Biden thinks about himself. He apparently has no perception that people are constantly having to explain him.

[LanternWaste]

9. As long as people willfully misunderstand the obvious...

firestorms will continue.

[oasis]

15. "willfully misunderstand". A few Biden rivals can't resist. nt

[customerserviceguy]

19. Doncha know?

Joe was supposed to have gotten Talmadge in a choke hold and squeezed the life out of him when they were alone in the same room! Anything less is enabling racism.

[oasis]

23. Kudos to MSNBC's Stephanie Rhule standing up to Bernie

who insisted Joe "must apologize". The two got into a mini shouting match, then Bernie abruptly cut her off.

[Cha]

36. Wow! What did Stephanie Rhule say to

stand up to BS?!

Mahalo for this, oasis!

[oasis]

43. Bernie insisted Biden must apologize. Steph took Biden's

point of view.

[Cha]

44. Mahalo, oasis.. here's a more

detailed account I ran across..

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=158100

[oasis]

47. I remember Steph being plenty tough. The link you provided

brings it all back. Thanks. Hopefully others will take note on Bernire's rude behavior.


Mahalo Cha.

[Cha]

48. Hey Aloha, oasis!

I see you saw George II's Vid on it.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287159003#top

[Mosby]

45. lol!

[LakeArenal]

11. Joe creates the firestorm?

Hardly. It’s those that need to parse every word that create the firestorm.

Unfortunately for the detractors, Joe has been through many faux firestorms.
So have his supporters.

Still Joe remains the most qualified both nationally and globally.

Those not looking for negatives about Joe don’t need your “Bidensplaining” only folks who do do.

PS. When Joe said it’s a Big Effin Deal. That was not a mistake. It actually was a big effin deal.

[OhZone]

31. Exactly!

[Honeycombe8]

53. Saying things like what? There was no quote of Biden in the OP. Which statement do you mean?nt

[loyalsister]

5. She also defended Mel Gibson

.

[DURHAM D]

7. and Michael Vick about dog fighting

Also, she is against inheritance taxes and calls them death taxes.

[LanternWaste]

10. Thankfully, we rarely, if ever, agree with any one person on all things.

And, as Biden has never run a dog--fighting ring, your tenuous (through imaginative) equivalency seems specious at best.

[DURHAM D]

13. .

[cwydro]

51. Best response ever lol.

[bullwinkle428]

22. Don't forget about Roman Polanski! ("It wasn't 'rape'-rape!")

[Demit]

6. Whoopi makes a straw man argument.

I don't know if anyone actually called Biden a racist. I did hear & read people say that coddling segregationists, admiring them because they were nice to you personally, was wrong. And that making these comments on Juneteenth was tone deaf.

Nobody is holding Biden's history of working with the opposition against him. What leaves the bad taste is his insistence on speaking admiringly about horrible people.

[LakeArenal]

12. Just cuz you didn't hear it doesn't mean it isn't true.

Nice try minimizing this.

[tonedevil]

14. Who has called VP Biden a racist? /nt

[LakeArenal]

26. Whoopi made the statement.

Don’t start on me. You are the one accusing Whoopi of lying or misstating.

I’m guessing Whoopi knows what she means.

[tonedevil]

34. I don't recall anyone calling...

Biden a racist. When someone else pointed that out you said:

Just cuz you didn't hear it doesn't mean it isn't true.

That statement led me to believe you knew what Whoopi meant or at least you knew of someone who had called him a racist.

[Cha]

37. Hey there, LakeArenal!

[tonedevil]

38. I'm sorry...

I guess I scared 'em off.

[Cha]

39. You just think you did.

[tonedevil]

40. I'm sure that's it. /nt

[Cha]

41. Nobody is "scared" of you.

[tonedevil]

42. I' sure you are correct. /nt

[Bradshaw3]

29. She isn't the only one

Posters on here are making the same claim that people are accusing Biden of beign a racist. I haven't seen anyone here or Dem officials who have said that. Yet it's become a meme here, or rather a strawman as you said. The overall point is that he doesn't seem - from this and other statements - to understand what we are dealing with in 2019.

[mr_liberal]

16. She got the part about 'son' wrong. He meant that that was also a put down.

His campaign needs to explain that yet because it's obvious people are still confused about it. The part about working with segregationists and being bipartisan I think he's winning on.

[crazytown]

24. Eastland AlwayS called him son

a most disrespect thing to do towards a fellow Senator.

[IronLionZion]

17. No but he's pandering to racists

There are better ways to get the message across to work with others. His staff advised him not to use a segregationist example and choose someone else. It's disappointing that Joe doesn't know why it's wrong.

Nonwhite Senators and congresspeople would not have the privilege to work with segregationists who block their very right to even vote or run for office. Obama faced unprecedented obstruction as president. This is white privilege.

[Politicub]

21. He's not pandering to racists. That's absurd.

Saying that you were able to get someone to vote on a bill, as disgusting as those senators were as human beings, is not pandering to anyone.

It was a bad example and not thought out on Biden's part, though. A bad example is not pandering.

But if what you are implying is that he was somehow winking and nodding at racists, that's something that is different than what happened. I hope you reconsider that opinion.

[Politicub]

18. Biden should have primed the news cycle pump with something other than asking Booker to apologize.

By letting sleeping dogs snooze, the reaction to son-boy would have faded from public consciousness faster.

But that's not what happened. And, here is where we are today.

The media loves an internecine fight. Sigh.

The problem with Biden's communications volley is that Biden can not make Booker apologize. But what Biden could have done is move on to something else because Biden has control over what his campaign does or says. Or, Biden could have allowed statements of support from POC to stay in the spotlight. There are many avenues he could have gone down other than tit-for-tat apology pleas.

Biden needs to be doing a lot of activity from day-to-day so things like the quote have a harder time taking root. Give people something or an array of things to talk about. Do something on social media. Just do something else.

Disclaimer: This is not a criticism of candidate Biden. It's a criticism of his campaign's communications strategy.

[Gothmog]

20. For this thread

Link to tweet

[oasis]

25. Thanks, Gothmog for this video.

[TDale313]

28. I don't think he's racist,

I do think he’s kinda out of touch and gaff prone, and that’s an issue.

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. Whoopi speaks for many of us. His rivals may think they've got him on the ropes, but the AA...

community is well aware of who our friends and enemies are. When the dust settles, Biden will emerge unscathed, and the attackers will probably suffer much more than Biden.

[OhZone]

32. Yup!

[Gothmog]

46. According to Symone Sanders, Biden did not praise a segregationist

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[ucrdem]

49. Whoopi for Veep.

We could do worse!

[Cha]

50. lol

That's my line lately.. ".. it could be worse.."

ucr

[ucrdem]

54. Yep.

And I think it would be a great ticket. Who better than Whoopi to campaign with Joe? Heck I'd stand in line AND show some green to attend one of their rallies!



And if she became president? Watch out world!

[Cha]

55. ..

[True Blue American]

52. Missed it, but

Whoopi said the same thing I have been saying. Clyburn defended Biden, too!

Please post the video if you find it.