While presidential hopefuls waited with bated breath for vote tallies on Super Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden thanked GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump for forcing Americans to confront racism.
Biden thanked Trump as a crowd gathered at the Naval Observatory in Washington laughed Tuesday evening during a reception in honor of Black History Month, according to a White House press pool report.
“The stuff he's doing, and others, the stuff [Ted] Cruz is doing -- he's making the American people look in the mirror,” he said. “If we're smart, and we're lucky, I'm convinced that the American people are prepared over the next decade to gradually deal with institutional racism.”
Biden said the country appeared to be at a pivotal moment in race relations and civil rights issues. He credited the Black Lives Matter movement for its efforts to bring issues of racism to the forefront.
The group has “awakened ordinary Americans,” he said.
Before speaking Tuesday, Biden watched as early returns starting trickling into television stations.
“Watching what's happening now, I think you're going to see a real opportunity for us,” he said. “Maybe the divisiveness, particularly with the other team right now, maybe it's a good thing to awaken the American people about the subtle and not-so-subtle deals going on.”
On Super Tuesday, Trump won primaries or caucuses in seven states while Cruz won two and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio won one. On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton won primaries in seven states and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took four.
