President Joe Biden speaks at a reception for new Democratic members of Congress in the State Dining Room of the White House, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
"But he had more African-Americans in his staff than any United States senator had, more. Strom Thurmond had an illegitimate child with a Black woman [and he] never denied it. Never stopped paying for his upbringing. There's a lot of strange people, a lot of different people. And I mean, well, I bet I can look at you and I can find some strange things too," Biden added.
Biden has repeatedly mentioned his relationship with Thurmond at various times during his presidency. He claimed in August 2023 that he had "literally" convinced Thurmond to vote for the Voting Rights Act before his death in 2003, when he was just 21 years old.
President Joe Biden speaks to the media after signing the Social Security Fairness Act at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2025. (CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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While Thurmond and Biden were contemporaries in the Senate, the president would have been 21 at the time of the landmark legislation's passing — and nowhere near the Senate seat he won at 29 years old.
Fox News' Houston Keene contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/one-last-speeches-office-biden-attempts-rehabilitate-image-late-segregationist-strom-thurmond