Some of the major Democratic candidates
have been atoning for positions that they used to hold
that are no longer welcome in the Democratic Party.
Right? Candidates like former vice president
and surprise massage therapist Joe Biden,
who yesterday expressed regret
over being a little "too tough" on crime back in the '90s.
I've been in this fight for a long time.
It goes not just to voting rights,
it goes to the criminal justice system.
I haven't always been right.
I know we haven't always gotten things right.
But I've always tried.
Barack and I finally reduced the disparity in sentencing,
which we had been fighting to eliminate
in crack cocaine versus powder cocaine.
It was a big mistake when it was made.
We thought... we were told by the experts that...
crack, you never go back.
(laughter)
Once you crack, you never go back?
Really, Joe Biden? Is that how the experts phrased it? Yeah?
The scientists were studying crack under a microscope,
and they're like, "My God, if these readings are correct,
crack is whack."
Like, "Can anything be done?"
"I'm afraid not. The data shows there's no hope with dope."
And by the way, "Once you go crack,
you never go back" is not even a real phrase.
I think Biden is conflating two different phrases.
First, there's, "Once you go black, you never go back."
Which isn't true. Just ask Obama.
And then there's, "Black don't crack."
Which also isn't true. Again, just ask Obama.
-(laughter) -But... the point is,
Biden regrets supporting laws
that he now believes led to decades of mass incarceration.
Although, at least he never hated gay people.
Which is more than Hawaii's Democratic congresswoman
and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard can say.
Which is why last week she apologized for all her years
of supporting conversion therapy and opposing gay rights.
Aloha.
In my past, I said and believed things that were wrong.
And worse, they were very hurtful
to people in the LGBTQ community and to their loved ones.
I'm deeply sorry for having said them.
My views have changed significantly since then,
and my record in Congress over the last six years
reflects what is in my heart.
Wow.
That felt like a very intimate apology, you know?
Yeah. Like, I feel like she pulled me aside, like,
"There's something I need to talk to you about.
Come with me outside to the gazebo."
"But I... I thought you said gazebos were gay."
"I know, I know.
That's one of the many things I've evolved on."
So basically, the Hawaiian congresswoman
wants everyone to know
that she used to say "Aloha!" to gay people,
but now she's saying "Aloha" to gay people.
But this apology tour isn't just for people like Gabbard.
It's also for people who have a chance of winning.
Like Senator Bernie Sanders.
You see, before he moves on to 2020,
he has to make amends for things that happened during 2016.
Senator Bernie Sanders met with a group
of former campaign staffers who say they faced sexism
and sexual harassment while they worked on his 2016 campaign.
I certainly apologize to any woman
who felt that she was not treated appropriately,
and of course, if I run, we will do better our next time.
NEWSMAN: Sanders met with those accusers,
but refused to talk about their discussion,
describing it as private.
Okay, I'm sorry, that's just bullshit, right?
No. Bernie can't say any conversation he's ever had
has been in private.
If you're in a ten-mile radius of the man,
you can hear the conversation.
No, I mean, he's a great politician,
but he would suck as a priest.
He's like... (loudly): "So you say you masturbate
to pictures of your aunt?"
"Yo, shh, man. She's outside!"
(loudly): "Your hot aunt you masturbate to is outside?"
(laughter)
But of all the Democrats hoping to be president,
the one whose positions have changed the most
from what they used to be is arguably Kirsten Gillibrand.
Before she was a senator, Gillibrand represented
a conservative district in Upstate New York,
and even though that was a long time ago,
she's still trying to make sure the slate is wiped clean
for her 2020 run.
You said Trump's immigration positions are racist.
Now, as you know, you were more conservative
early on in your career on immigration.
You said you were "a firm opponent"
of giving "amnesty to illegal aliens.”
You said English should be
"the official language of the United States."
You called for expediting deportation
of undocumented immigrants.
If Trump's immigration positions are racist,
were they racist when you held some of those positions as well?
They certainly weren't empathetic
and they were not kind, and I did not think
about suffering in other people's lives.
And so I took the time, I went down to Brooklyn,
I met with Nydia Velázquez, who has been a leader
in fighting for families for a long time, and I listened.
And I realized that things I had said were wrong.
Damn, Jake Tapper got her on that one.
No, because, I mean, it's hard for her to say Trump's policies
are racist, but her identical policies were just unkind.
You know? It's like someone saying,
"No, honey, what you did was cheating.
"When I slept with Carol,
"I was just being unkind to our marriage.
"Over and over again, I unkinded it in my car,
"and I unkinded it in my office,
"and on good days, I unkinded it twice.
So you can get the unkind out of here."
But to be fair, to be fair,
I get why Gillibrand had to say,
"I went to Brooklyn and I saw things in a different way."
Because, let's be honest, if she had said,
"Yeah, my policies used to be racist but then they changed,"
you know the headlines would just be
"Gillibrand admits racism."
And Trump, he'd never let that go.
He'd probably make it her new nickname.
He'd be like, (mimics Trump): "My opponent, Ku Klux Kirsten,
"is so racist she's trying to steal the nomination
from Native Americans like Elizabeth Warren."
(normal voice): But this is not the first time that Gillibrand
has apologized for her previous policy positions.
Because you see, it turns out,
she also used to be very pro-gun.
TV REPORTER: As a congresswoman, Gillibrand used
that family tradition of hunting to appeal
to conservative voters in Upstate New York.
She boasted an "A" rating from the NRA.
-So why the 180? -After I had appointed,
I, um, went down to Brooklyn
to meet with families who had suffered
from gun violence in their communities.
And you immediately experience the feeling
that I couldn't have been more wrong.
-Okay, uh... -(laughter)
What's... What's going on in Brooklyn?
Like...
(applause)
Every time... Every time Gillibrand goes to Brooklyn,
she changes another position.
I feel like they're gonna have to make a remix
to that Jay-Z-Alicia Keys song.
It's gonna be like, ♪ Now I'm out in Brooklyn ♪
♪ Changed my mind on gun rights ♪
♪ Used to hate illegals ♪
♪ Now I fight the good fight ♪
♪ In New York ♪
♪ Turns out all my past views were racist ♪
♪ That's something I'm changing. ♪