Editorial: Repugnant remarks doomed GOP leader

Friday, Dec. 20, 2002 | 9:27 a.m.

Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott, who deservedly received condemnation for praising Sen. Strom Thurmond's 1948 presidential bid on a segregationist ticket, resigned his leadership post today. Criticism against Lott's repugnant remarks two weeks ago wouldn't subside despite several apologies, including an interview he had this week with Black Entertainment Television network. The mea culpas actually stoked the controversy, especially among Republicans. Conservatives were aghast that Lott, during his appearance on BET, said he supports affirmative action and that he now regrets voting against legislation to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday.

Many conservative commentators had called for Lott's ouster, but some of them appeared more worried about the political fallout than they were about the substance of what he said. These hard-liners believed that in the past Lott had been too willing to compromise with Democrats on legislation -- Lott's offensive remarks were viewed as an opportunity to have him dumped. Others who had called for Lott to step down acknowledged that Lott's continued presence would have hurt the Republican agenda, but they also were genuinely offended by his remarks. For that matter, this wasn't the first time Lott had spoken fondly about Thurmond's 1948 candidacy, and during the 1990s Lott also had spoken a number of times before the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group with racist views.

Lott was upset with White House officials, who he believed were working behind the scenes to get him to resign. But, in the end, Lott did the right thing by resigning. His remarks were unbecoming of the top Senate Republican, were a stain on the party of Lincoln and were deeply offensive to all Americans.