What about Senator Trent Lott? The former majority leader! What does that tell you about back door politics in the republican party!
A quick recap: Last Thursday, Lott said America "wouldn't have had these problems over all these years" if Sen. Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948. Lott crowed about his home state of Mississippi's support for Thurmond's Dixiecrat candidacy, which was based, in part, on opposition to civil rights for blacks.
"When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him," Lott said, with a chuckle. "We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years."
As it turns out, Lott made almost identical comments 22 years ago at a rally for Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign that Thurmond also attended. Lott also came under fire a few years ago for speaking to the Council of Conservative Citizens, which has a record of white supremacist views.
Lott's handling of the firestorm has been as ham-handed as the comments themselves.
Lott issued an initial statement, not an apology, on Monday. He said his comments about Thurmond during the "lighthearted celebration" were "not an endorsement of his positions of over 50 years ago, but of the man and his life."
cbsnews.com
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