‘It’s a long tradition’: Dem senator Sheldon Whitehouse blasted for defending membership in all-white club

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) has been targeted as a ‘hypocrite’ by liberals and conservatives for speaking on numerous race issues while belonging to an exclusive club that reportedly includes no people of color.

Whitehouse has faced scrutiny for his membership at Bailey’s Beach Club in the past, even reportedly indicating he would leave the club when he first ran for the Senate in 2006. 

The senator has more recently made waves as a vocal critic of Donald Trump and his supporters and for regularly speaking out on numerous race-related issues. Whitehouse’s liberal stances on social issues combined with his membership to an all-white club has left many scratching their heads. 

Confronted about his continued connection to the club by a local reporter while at an event in Newport, Whitehouse seemingly stood up for the club once more.

Whitehouse defended the club as a “long tradition in Rhode Island,” an argument that has only added to the outrage.

During the recent confrontation with Whitehouse about his club membership, the Democrat senator also said he is “sorry” that more diversity has not been introduced into his club, but claims it’s something the “people who are running the place are working on.”

Whitehouse has been a member of the club for decades though, and his wife is a shareholder. 

Whitehouse had previously said in 2017 that it would be “nice” if Bailey’s Beach Club “changed a little bit, but it’s not my position.”

He later added that would take up the issue of diversity in the club “privately,” but did not detail whom exactly he would be speaking with. 

Bailey’s Beach Club is a highly exclusive and expensive group that includes only white members, according to multiple reports. 

In a New York Times report on the club, one lifelong member was quoted as saying about membership in the group, “Jewish, yes… Blacks, not really.” The report described members of the club as part of the “ruling class,” each of whom “keep their guard up” around outsiders. The senator and his wife have reportedly brought in plenty of new members to the club, including a staffer.

Numerous critics took to social media to brand Whitehouse a “limousine liberal” and hypocrite for belonging to such a group while speaking on issues black Americans face and calling out conservatives like Trump for not condemning hate groups frequently enough.

“I wonder what Joy Reid is going to think of this,” Fox News’ Cam Cawthorne wrote, referencing MSNBC’s left-wing host, who has praised Whitehouse in the past.

Many called out Whitehouse’s “tradition” comments as well, saying such a defense would get someone with more right-leaning politics in much deeper trouble. 

“‘It’s a tradition,’ according to the ‘systemic racism’ believer,” one Twitter user wrote. 

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