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Who was Robert Byrd? Joe Biden trolled over 'best friend' from KKK as he slams group's Congress members

Joe Biden slammed KKK members of Congress during a rally at Tulsa, leading Twitter to remind him that his friend Robert Byrd was once a KKK leader

President Joe Biden sparked massive backlash late on Tuesday, June 1, for his friendship with late senator Robert Byrd. Biden was speaking at a rally in Tulsa on the anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre when he drew attention to the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) members who went on to serve in Congress. "They weren't even embarrassed by it, they were proud of it," he noted.

It didn't take long for social media to once again troll the president for his choice of words. Biden recently found himself at the receiving end after singling out an elementary school girl during a rally at the Langley-Eustis Joint Base in Hampton, Virginia. He also became a target after a rather odd photo of the first couple visiting former president Jimmy Carter and former FLOTUS Roslynn Carter was released. 

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Biden, unlike his son Hunter Biden, hasn't often been trolled for his friend circle, but that clearly changed on June 1 after his rather ironic statement. Biden condemned KKK Congressional members, but it seemed like he forgot he was close friends with one of them — the late Senator Robert Byrd. Byrd wasn't just an ordinary member though, he was a leader (called Exalted Cyclops) of a local Klan chapter. 

Who was Robert Byrd?

Born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr, Byrd was raised in North Carolina and West Virginia. Unable to afford college, Byrd spent his youth as a member of the KKK, which he later called a "sad mistake". In the early 1940s, Byrd recruited 150 of his friends to organize a local chapter when living in West Virginia. At the time, the 'Grand Dragon' Joel L Baskin told a young impressionable Byrd, "the country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation". 

He then turned his energies towards politics, where he had greater success, becoming one of the longest-serving members of Congress. Following World War 2, he served in both houses of the West Virginia legislature, before successfully running for the US House in 1952. It was during that run that his KKK links were revealed, but he managed to overcome the opposition to serve six years. Then in 1958, he ran for the Senate, where he served until 2010.

The KKK association wasn't the only controversy Byrd was involved in. In 1964, he joined several Democrats to oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He filibustered the bill for more than 14 hours before it eventually passed. In 1967, he again drew criticism for opposing the nomination of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Justice of the US Supreme Court. During his long time in the senate, he went on to serve as senate majority and minority leader, president pro tempore and senate majority whip. 

Byrd's friendship with Biden

Just how close Byrd and Biden were was not clear, but the current president did eulogize Byrd at his funeral in 2010. Later, speaking at a GE plant in Louisville, Kentucky, Biden said, "A guy who was there when I was a 29-year-old kid being sworn into the United States Senate shortly thereafter; a guy who stood in the rain, in a pouring rain, freezing rain outside a church as I buried my daughter and my wife before I got sworn in, Robert C Byrd." He added, "We lost the dean of the United States Senate, but also the state of West Virginia lost its most fierce advocate and, as I said, I lost a dear friend."

Biden did receive a lot of backlash at the time when many pointed out Byrd's KKK past, but the then-vice president never addressed those criticisms. During his 2008 run for VP, Biden was also spotted holding Byrd's hand at a campaign event in Charleston, West Virginia. Now, that connection has come back to haunt him after his speech in Tulsa.

'Biden suddenly discovering outrage' says Twitter

Following his speech, Biden was swarmed with criticism for his friendship with Byrd, while others rushed to defend the president. Breitbart editor Joel Pollak tweeted, "I love how @JoeBiden is suddenly discovering his outrage that there were members of the KKK in Congress. One was his good buddy Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)." Radio host Mark Simone said, "Joe Biden speaking at Tulsa is a little bizarre considering his history of racist comments and the fact that he gave a glowing eulogy for Ku Klux Klan leader Robert Byrd. It was the Klan that did the massacre." Another noted, "Interesting Joe was talking about people serving in Senate being open members of the klan. Yeah he was best friends with one, Robert Byrd."

Others though fought back to remind Twitter that Byrd spent years apologizing for his involvement with the Klan. "Robert Byrd quit the KKK, became liberal, fought for civil rights and was honored in death by the @NAACP. Ever notice how the only racist GOP guys hate is the 1 who stopped being racist? (Now back to defending white supremacist monuments/flags & playing dumb about birtherism)," tweeted one person. 

Another said, "I love the breathless cries of "Joe Biden eulogized Byrd when he died!" Right, and so did the NAACP and John Lewis. Maybe that tells you a little something about where Byrd ended up." One person tweeted, "The Right finds Robert Byrd so uniquely odious because he embodied the ability of people to genuinely change for the better over the course of a lifetime. They use him for literally every straw man argument."

While he may have had a controversial past, Byrd's proved how people change by drastically changing his stance on several matters. He was a critic of the Vietnam War and Iraq War and helped pass Obama's Affordable Care Act. He even turned around on several race-related matters, leading the NAACP to give him a 100% rating in the 2003-04 session.