Biden Says He Picked South Carolina as Spot for Apology
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has apologized for comments about working with segregationist lawmakers in his early days in the U.S. Senate and says he now understands that his remarks could have offended some people.
“Was I wrong a few weeks ago?” the former vice president and Delaware senator asked a mostly black audience of several hundred people in Sumter during the first day of a weekend visit to South Carolina. “Yes, I was. I regret it, and I’m sorry for any of the pain of misconception that caused anybody.”
At a Charleston restaurant on Sunday, he explained that he picked South Carolina as the place where he would apologize, wanting to choose “an audience that would in fact be most likely to have been offended” by the comments.
It’s first Southern state to vote in next year’s primary and a crucial proving ground for candidates seeking support of black Democrats.
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