Ocasio-Cortez sides with Booker over Biden’s segregationists comments

WASHINGTON – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez inserted herself into the Democratic primary race Thursday, tweeting that Vice President Joe Biden was in the wrong for suggesting Sen. Cory Booker was out of line for criticizing comments Biden made about working with segregationists.

“For the record, Cory Booker does not owe Joe Biden an apology for pointing out that waxing nostalgic about working with segregationists is insensitive,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

On Tuesday night at a fundraiser in New York City, Biden talked about how he had worked with Democratic Sens. James Eastland and Herman Talmadge – who were against integration – and had gotten things done.

“We didn’t agree on much of anything,” Biden said, but added, “at least there was some civility.” Biden also noted that Eastland “never called me ‘boy’” – a derogatory term used by white men toward African American men. “He always called me son,” Biden said.

Booker slammed Biden’s comments Wednesday in a statement. “You don’t joke about calling black men ‘boys.’ Men like James O. Eastland used words like that, and the racist policies that accompanied them, to perpetuate white supremacy and strip black Americans of our very humanity,” Booker said. “And frankly, I’m disappointed that he hasn’t issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should.”

Ocasio-Cortez shared a video of Biden’s response to Booker Wednesday night in which the 2020 hopeful told reporters that there’s “not a racist bone in my body” and “I’ve been involved in civil rights my whole career.”

“Apologize for what? Cory should apologize. He knows better,” Biden said.

That didn’t sit well with Ocasio-Cortez, who commented, “‘He knows better?’ Really? What is ‘better?’ To stay quiet about it?”

The freshman New Yorker – who hasn’t endorsed a 2020 candidate though is cozy with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) – said she feared that voters could be alienated if Democrats didn’t hold Biden to account for his comments.

“For folks saying we should gloss over this, I think it’s important to realize that we can’t risk depressed turnout in 2020,” AOC said. “The original remark is valid to ask about & have a discussion on or clarify – not dismiss.”

“We should be compassionate toward each other, but not silent,” she added.

She previously had expressed a similar sentiment in an interview with Politico.

This week marks the most heated rhetoric yet in the Democratic primary, with Booker and other rivals, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, piling on.

But leadership in Congress has tried to maintain its cool.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Biden on Thursday and suggested prominent Democrats should leave the party’s nomination up to the voters.

“I think that authenticity is the most important characteristic that candidates have to convey to the American people. Joe Biden is authentic,” she told reporters at her a.m. press conference. “He has lived his life. He considers certain things a resource, that he has worked across the aisle, that’s what he was saying.”

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the No. 3 Democrat in the House, also gave Biden a pass. “I worked with Strom Thurmond all my life,” Clyburn said, referring to the late lawmaker who’s likely the most prominent segregationist senator. “You don’t have to agree with people to work with them.”