Carol Moseley Braun defended Joe Biden against Kamala Harris’ debate night attack over forced busing.
Braun, a former Illinois Democratic senator and the first black female to serve in the Senate, has endorsed former Vice President Biden for president in 2020.
“We can be proud of [Harris] nonetheless, but her ambition got it wrong about Joe,” Braun told Politico. “He is about the best there is; for her to take that tack is sad.”
Harris, a Democratic senator from California, questioned Biden’s commitment to bettering race relations in the second round of the first Democratic debate Thursday. Harris launched a planned attack on Biden’s history on forced busing and his recent comments on segregationist senators he worked with.
“I will direct this at 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, but I also believe — and it’s personal and it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country,” Harris said during the debate.
“It was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing,” she added. “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. That little girl was me.”
After the debate, Harris launched new campaign merchandise branded with a picture of a young Harris with the slogan, “That little girl was me.” Harris has also said she supports reinstituting forced busing to integrate U.S. schools, though she has not released a plan on how to implement it.
During the debate, Biden pushed back against Harris, calling her comments a “mischaracterization.”
“It’s a mischaracterization of my position across the board. I do not praise racists. That is not true.” Biden said. “If we want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights, whether I did or not, I’m happy to do that.”
