RI SEN. IN SAND STORM ‘All-white’ beach club

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who has billed himself as a progressive critic of “systemic racism,” is facing new scrutiny over his decadeslong membership in an allegedly all-white private beach club — and dismissed concerns over his affiliation with the organization by saying that such ultra-exclusive clubs are “a long tradition in Rhode Island.”

The Rhode Island Democrat (inset) was confronted over his ties to the Newport-based Bailey’s Beach Club on Friday by a GoLocalProv reporter, who posted a video of the interaction on Saturday.

“I think the people who are running the place are still working on that, and I’m sorry it hasn’t happened yet,” Whitehouse tells the reporter in the video after being asked about the club’s lack of any diversity whatsoever.

Asked whether such clubs should continue to exist while the country is facing a racial reckoning, Whitehouse replied, “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,” he added before departing.

In addition to his own membership, Whitehouse’s wife, Sandra, is one of the three largest shareholders in the club, which is part of the

Spouting Rock Beach Association.

When the senator, who was first elected in 2006, initially ran for his office, he disavowed his membership and pledged to quit the club, GoLocal reported.

Reached for comment by The Post, Whitehouse’s senior spokeswoman, Meaghan McCabe, said the club was not all-white, but declined to provide further information.

“The club has no such restrictive policy. The club has had and has members of color,” McCabe said.

“The senator has dedicated his entire career to promoting equity and protecting civil rights, as his record shows.”

Efforts to reach management at Bailey’s by phone were unsuccessful. A person who answered refused to transfer the call and said the club was declining to comment.

GoLocal reported in August 2017 that for both Sheldon and Sandra’s families, membership in Bailey’s “goes back generations” and that they “had access to socializing and building contacts with some of the wealthiest families whose ranks include multiple billionaires.”