Sheldon Whitehouse under fire for membership at all-white beach club

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is facing new scrutiny over his decades-long membership in an all-white private beach club, as he bills himself as a progressive and prominent critic of “systemic racism” — dismissing membership based on race as “a long tradition in Rhode Island.”

Whitehouse (D-RI) was confronted Friday by a GoLocal Providence reporter, who published the video along with an article on Saturday detailing what occurred after asking about the senator’s membership at Newport-based Bailey’s Beach Club, part of the Spouting Rock Beach Association. “I think the people who are running the place are still working on that and I’m sorry it hasn’t happened yet,” the progressive pol told the reporter after being asked of the club’s lack of any diversity whatsoever.