CHARLESTON, S.C. — Joe Biden said that this weekend was the first opportunity he had to apologize for highlighting his connection to segregationist senators in the 1970s, despite facing scrutiny from the press and Democratic primary rivals for 17 days.

Saturday was “the first opportunity I had to do it in a fulsome way," Biden told reporters on Sunday.

"If any comments I made were taken in a way that people took offense from, then I am truly sorry for that. That was not my intention. But if you notice, I went on and talked about all of those sort of attacks," Biden said. "I’m proud of my past. Have I made mistakes? Yes. Do we grow? Yes. But the fact of the matter is, that’s why I chose here in South Carolina, and chose an audience that in fate is — would be the most likely to have been offended by anything that was said.”





Biden came under fire for pointing to his relationships with segregationist Sens. James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia in the 1970s as an example of civility during a June 18 evening fundraiser. Eastland "never called me boy, he always called me son,” Biden said.

In a speech to a mostly black audience in Sumter, South Carolina on Saturday, Biden said that he was "sorry for any of the pain or misconception," adding that he regretted the comments.

On June 19, presidential hopeful and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker called on Biden to apologize for his comments — specifically, his use of the word “boy.” Later that day, Biden said that Booker is the one who should apologize. "He knows better. There's not a racist bone in my body," Biden said.

Days later, Biden traveled to South Carolina to attended a South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn’s fish fry in Columbia, where he told a reporter said that "no one should apologize."

During the first round of Democratic presidential primary debates at the end of June, California Sen. Kamala Harris dug into Biden's comments and escalated the attack to his work with the senators to oppose desegregation busing.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that support for Biden among black Democratic and independent voters fell by half after the debate, from about 4 in 10 earlier in June to 2 in 10 in the days after the debate.

South Carolina state Sen. Dick Harpootlian told the Washington Examiner at a Biden event in Orangeburg, South Carolina on Saturday that it ”took a while for him to realize” that some people had wavered in their support after the comments. But referring to Biden's base of loyal supporters, he said, "These folks never wavered, okay? But other folks did. So he wanted to reassure them," Harpootlian said.

Former South Carolina state representative and political commentator Bakari Sellers, who is supporting Harris' presidential bid, took a swipe at Biden's delay in apologizing in a tweet Saturday.

“VP @JoeBiden gave a strong speech today. It was probably best 2 weeks ago but it was strong today,” Sellers said.