Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse defended his family’s decadeslong membership to an all-white private club in his home state.
The Democrat called the all-white clubs in Rhode Island “a long tradition” and defended his membership to Bailey’s Beach Club in Newport last Friday during an interview with news outlet GoLocal.
“It's a long tradition in Rhode Island, and there are many of them, and I think we just need to work our way through the issues, thank you,” he said.
“I think the people who are running the place are still working on that, and I’m sorry it hasn't happened yet,” Whitehouse added when he was asked if the club had admitted any minorities since the local outlet uncovered the issue of the club’s demographics four years ago.