Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Hillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Fox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio MORE said he specifically chose South Carolina as the spot to apologize over comments he made about working with segregationists in the Senate.

The Associated Press reports Biden said he wanted to choose "an audience that would in fact be most likely to have been offended" by the comments.

The top-tier 2020 candidate apologized Saturday while campaigning in Sumter, S.C.

“Everything they stood for offended me. They represented everything that I ran against.” Biden said in Sumter, S.C. “I do believe we have work to do, even with those who we find repugnant, to make our system of government to work for all of us. I believe then and I believe now, and I know it can be done without compromising on our principles.”

ADVERTISEMENT

South Carolina is first Southern state to vote in next year's primary and could be key in securing a candidate's nomination.

Biden had previously refused to apologize over his comments recalling working cordially with segregationists as a Senator.

He faced backlash from a wide range of his primary opponents.

Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisHundreds of lawyers from nation's oldest African American sorority join effort to fight voter suppression Biden picks up endorsement from progressive climate group 350 Action 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing MORE (D-Calif.) called him out during the first round of debates.

“I do not believe you are a racist and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground,” Harris told Biden at the debate. “But I also believe, and it’s personal and I was actually very — it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.”