Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: It bothers me that Harris's attack on Biden was apparently coldly calculated in advance, [View all]SunSeeker
(51,557 posts)In fact, it was Biden who misrepresented what she said. He accused her of a "misrepresentation of my position across the board." He basically accused her of lying. But Kamala never said he "praised racists," she said she found his comments about the reputation of segregationists "hurtful" to her personally. And he did indeed oppose bussing, so she did not lie about that either.
Here is what she actually said:
HARRIS: Okay. So, on the issue of race, I couldnt agree more that this is an issue that is still not being talked about truthfully and honestly. Ithere is not a black man I know, be he a relative, a friend or a coworker who has not been the subject of some form of profiling or discrimination. Growing up, my sister and I had to deal with the neighbor who told us her parents couldnt play with us because shebecause we were black. And I will say also thatthat in this campaign, weve also heardand Im going to now direct this to Vice President Biden. I do not believe you are a racist and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground.
BIDEN: Mm-hmm.
HARRIS: But, I also believeand its personal. And II was actually veryit was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on segregation of race in this country. And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. And you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bussed to school every day and that little girl was me. So, I will tell you that on this subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among democrats. We have to take it seriously. We have to act swiftly. As attorney general of California, I was very proud to put in place aa requirement that all my special agents would wear body cameras and keep those cameras on.
MADDOW: Senator Harris, thank you.
Vice President Biden, you have been invoked.
We are going to give you a chance to respond.
BIDEN: Thats a mischaracterization of my position across the board. I did not praise racists. That is not true, number one. Number two, if we want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights and whether I did or not, Im happy to do that. I was a public defender. I didnt become a prosecutor. I came out and I left a good law firm to become a public defender when in fact when in fact when in fact my city was in flames because of thethe assassination of Dr. King, number one. Now, number two, as the U.S.asexcuse meas the vice president of the United States, I worked with a man who in fact, we worked very hard to see to it we dealt with these issues in a major, major way. The fact is that in terms of busing, the busing, I neveryou wouldve been able to go to school the same exact way because it was a local decision made by your city council. Thats fine. Thats one of the things I argued for that we should not bewe should be breaking down these lines.Butso, the bottom line here is, look, everything I have done in my careerI ran because of civil rights. I continue to think we have to make fundamental changes in civil rights. And those civil rights, by the way, include not just African Americans, but the LGBT community. They dont
HARRIS: But, Vice President Biden do you agree todaydo you agree today that you were wrong to oppose bussing in America then?
BIDEN: No.
HARRIS: Do you agree?
BIDEN: I did not oppose bussing in America. What I opposed is bussing ordered by the Department of Education. Thats what I opposed. I did not oppose
HARRIS: Well, there was a failure ofof states toto integrate
BIDEN: No, but
HARRIS: Public schools in America. I was part of the second class to integrate, Berkley, California Public Schools almost two decades after Brown v. Board of Education.
BIDEN: Because your city council made that decision. It was a local decision.
HARRIS: So, thats where the federal government must step in.
BIDEN: Thethe federal government must
HARRIS: Thats why we have the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. Thats why we need to pass the Equality Act. Thats why we need to pass the ERA because there are
BIDEN: That
HARRIS: Moments in-
HARRIS: history where states fail to preserve the civil rights of all people.
https://time.com/5616518/2020-democratic-debate-night-2-transcript/
Do you think her school district would have ever "voluntarily" decided to integrate with bussing if they didn't have the federal mandate looming? Don't you see she very much did benefit from the federal mandate?
I can't believe I'm having to make this argument on a progressive board.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden