President Joe Biden recently said that he “literally” convinced the late Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC) to vote for the Civil Rights Act — a statement critics quickly questioned on at least two points.
Biden was speaking to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — on the 60th anniversary of the group’s founding — when he made the claim.
WATCH:
Biden says he “literally, not figuratively, talked Strom Thurmond into voting for the Civil Rights Act before he died.” pic.twitter.com/sUDhrfePg8
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 28, 2023
“Pause for just a moment. I thought things had changed,” Biden said. “I was able to — literally, not figuratively — talk Strom Thurmond into voting for the Civil Rights Act before he died. And I thought, ‘Well, maybe there’s real progress,’ but hate never dies, it just hides. It hides under the rocks.”
But Biden’s claim was problematic for at least a couple of reasons, not the least of which being that the Civil…
