WASHINGTON _ U.S. Rep. John Lewis on Friday stood by former Vice President Joe Biden, who has recently faced withering criticism from some corners of the Democratic Party after he discussed working with segregationists while in the Senate.
The civil rights leader and 17-term Georgia Democrat told reporters he did not find Biden's comments about working with the late Sens. Herman Talmadge and James Eastland to be "offensive."
"During the height of the civil rights movement we worked with people and got to know people that were members of the Klan, people who opposed us, even people who beat us, arrested us and jailed us," Lewis said. "We never gave up on our fellow human beings, and I will not give up on any human being."
Biden has stood by his remarks about working with Talmadge, D-Ga., and Eastland, D-Miss., in the 1970s, even after being sharply criticized by his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, including African American U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.
Both Talmadge and Eastland were vocal opponents of racial integration and the civil rights movement.
Lewis is viewed by many on Capitol Hill as a moral leader, and his comments could be helpful to Biden as he faces scrutiny from some in his party who have argued he's out of touch.
