As the Broadsides Continue, Lott Issues Another Apology

With Republicans growing increasingly nervous about their incoming Senate majority leader, Trent Lott (R-Miss.) apologized for a second time Wednesday for recently praising a 1948 presidential campaign that promoted racial segregation.

“This was a mistake of the head or of the mouth, not of the heart,” Lott said. “You know, I’ve asked for forgiveness, and now I want to, you know, do the right thing in the future.”

As clamor grew that his previous amends for the statements had been insufficient, Lott apologized in interviews broadcast on the Fox News Channel and CNN. Earlier this week, he apologized through brief written statements.

His latest comments came amid an intensifying fusillade of criticism from Democrats and concern among Republicans that Lott’s Senate job could be on the line.

So far, no Senate Republicans have publicly called for Lott’s ouster. Privately, however, many are concerned.

“There is a great deal of unease about where we’re headed,” said one senior Senate GOP aide who requested anonymity.

“There is a high level of anxiety downtown,” the aide said, referring to the White House.

The White House has publicly refrained from criticizing Lott. But neither has it offered a strong statement of support for a lawmaker who, as Senate leader, will be essential to steering President Bush’s agenda through the new Congress. Bush has made no public statement on the matter.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer on Wednesday reiterated Bush’s support for civil rights and sidestepped questions about whether the president is concerned about the damage that Lott’s statements may have caused the Republican Party.

“The president ... understands and knows that America is a much richer and better nation as a result of the changes that have been made to our society involving integration and the improvement of relations between races,” Fleischer said.

Lott has been pummeled for days for saying on Dec. 5 that the nation would have been better off if Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), then running as a Dixiecrat, had been elected president in 1948.

As news of Lott’s remarks spread, Lott on Monday apologized for what he termed “a poor choice of words” at “a lighthearted celebration” of Thurmond’s 100th birthday. Lott stressed that he had not meant to endorse segregation.

But the controversy intensified Wednesday with the revelation that Lott had also praised Thurmond’s presidential candidacy at a public event in 1980.

That year, the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss., reported that Lott had praised Thurmond during a political rally: “You know, if we had elected this man 30 years ago, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are today.”

Those words foreshadowed what Lott said at Thurmond’s party: “I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years, either.”

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), a likely 2004 presidential contender, on Wednesday became the first of Lott’s Senate colleagues to call on him to step aside as majority leader before the 108th Congress convenes on Jan. 7.

“I simply do not believe the country can today afford to have someone who has made these statements again and again be the leader of the United States Senate,” Kerry said.

Lott also came under fire in Mississippi on Wednesday when the Clarion-Ledger, the state’s largest newspaper, published a critical editorial cartoon.

As part of his effort to repair his image, Lott on Wednesday said he had supported increased funding for education, election reform and other initiatives that show his support for African Americans.

However, many civil-rights groups deplore his legislative record, and his recent comments cast a new light on it.

He voted in 1983 against creating a federal holiday for slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; in 1982, he opposed an extension of the Voting Rights Act.

In the 1980s, he championed Bob Jones University in South Carolina, a private institution that at the time banned interracial dating.

In one instance, he filed a legal brief arguing that the Internal Revenue Service had no right to deny Bob Jones University or other religious schools a tax exemption based on discriminatory policies. The Supreme Court rejected the claim.

Lott also faced criticism in the late 1990s for his contacts with the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group that has been attacked by critics as a source of segregationist rhetoric.

On Wednesday, he described a speech he had given to the council as a routine appearance in a public forum.

In his interview on Fox, Lott termed his comments “terrible” and added, “I apologize for the words, and I’m sorry that I used words that are insensitive and conveyed an impression that is not an accurate one.”

Lott described himself as the son of a sharecropper and a schoolteacher who understands the troubles faced by average Americans of all backgrounds.

He said he hoped he would be given a chance to move past the controversy, which he acknowledged “has become a distraction from the things we really want to be focusing on.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he expected Lott to remain the leader of the 51-member Republican Senate caucus.

“He’s very effective with the caucus,” McCain said. “He’s good at building relationships.”

However, McCain added that Lott’s latest apologies may not be enough.

“He probably should hold a press conference and answer questions,” he said.

Lott, 61, a three-term senator and former House member, has led the Senate Republicans, as majority leader and minority leader, since Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas stepped down in 1996 to run for president.

Last month, he was unchallenged for a new two-year term as Senate majority leader after Republicans regained the chamber in the midterm elections.

Should a new challenge to Lott emerge, possible candidates to succeed him would be Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Don Nickles of Oklahoma and Bill Frist of Tennessee.

Some conservative opinion leaders fear that because of Lott, the party has taken an irreparable hit on civil rights.

“Look, Mr. Bush has worked hard to try to demonstrate racial sensitivity,” said Ken Connor, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative group. “These remarks undercut that.”

William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, said Lott had failed to stem the uproar.

“The question is, can Republicans do better than Trent Lott for the next two years as the leader in the Senate?” Kristol said. “The answer is yes.”

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Times staff writers Janet Hook, Edwin Chen and Lianne Hart contributed to this report.