Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders demanded that former Vice President Joe Biden apologize to his “people of color” supporters after a screaming match broke out with his co-chair and a Biden “surrogate” on CNN Thursday evening.
CNN contributor and Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen defended Biden against former state senator and current Sander’s campaign co-chair Nina Turner while on a panel with CNN’s Chris Cuomo during “Cuomo Prime Time.” The argument was about the two’s differing interpretations of comments from Martin Luther King Jr.
Turner suggested that former Vice President Joe Biden was an example of the “white moderates” King was warning about in his well-known piece of work “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Rosen disagreed, saying that Biden fought for civil rights for blacks, and the discussion continued to escalate into a full-blown screaming segment.
“That is unacceptable and Joe must apologize to Nina and all the people of color supporting our campaign,” Sanders tweeted Friday in defense of Turner.
.@JoeBiden must accept responsibility for his surrogate telling our campaign co-chair Senator @NinaTurner that she doesn’t have standing to invoke the words of Dr. King. That is unacceptable and Joe must apologize to Nina and all the people of color supporting our campaign.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 6, 2020
Rosen said that Turner didn’t “have that standing” to use King against Biden. Turner replied as the argument continued to escalate and said Rosen couldn’t tell her “what kind of standing” she has “as a black woman in America.”
“First of all, don’t tell me what kind of standing I have as a black woman in America!” Turner replied. “How dare you! First of all, you’re dipping into something that I have to say!”
WATCH:
Bernie campaign co-chair @ninaturner and Biden surrogate @hilaryr get into it on Cuomo Prime Time over whether Martin Luther King Jr’s “white moderate” applies to Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/LqjnvOJmEA
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 6, 2020
Rosen sparked further controversy over her apology following the argument. She tweeted Friday morning that there was “no need to defend me and attack angry black women.” Many took issue with her use of the phrase “angry black women” while apologizing to a black woman. Rosen has since deleted the tweet. (RELATED: ‘Do You Think That Hurts You?’: Chris Cuomo Presses Adam Schiff On Lack Of Witnesses Who Say Trump Committed A ‘Crime’)