Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders was against 'busing' in the 1970s [View all]BlueWI
(1,736 posts)Did you ask the OP to alter the implication that Biden was called a racist? That would be an even-handed approach to accuracy.
Biden said that Eastland called him son and never called him boy, in the context of reflecting about the need to build consensus within a caucus, across disagreements. In a 2020 Democratic primary. You are right that it's hard to assess what emotion Biden attached to this recollection - but if Eastland called him son and not boy, that implies fondness for Biden on Eastland's part, and Biden must have thought Eastland's fondness helped prove a point for a 2020 audience.
The statement strikes me, at best, as a nonsequiter and a poor example of collaboration for a Democratic audience during a competitive primary. Of course I would say the same thing about Sanders for a gaffe, as has occurred before. I'm pretty confident that Sanders would not reference James Eastland in this way, though. And I am confident that the Biden campaign will recognize the need for cleanup, much more so than most of the DU Biden supporters.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided