The Democratic Party formally nominated Kamala Harris to be Joe Biden’s running mate on Wednesday, and she spent much of her acceptance speech praising the man who she suggested was a racist not too long ago.
Like the Democratic National Convention’s other speakers, Harris focused on Biden’s empathy, his humanity, and why both virtues appeal to voters of all political leanings. It was a welcome change, as was the warm demeanor she adopted. But it was indeed a change. Because just a few months ago, Harris stood on a stage alongside Biden and accused him of cozying up to segregationists and opposing a policy that would have guaranteed equal access to education.
Harris went so far as to say that Biden would have prevented minority children like her from attending school because he opposed federally mandated busing. During the June 27, 2019, debate, Harris asked Biden if he would admit that he was wrong to oppose busing in the 1970s. Harris then made it personal, saying: “There was a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.” But that hostility to Biden was clearly just a political ploy because Harris went on at length on Wednesday night about her long-standing friendship with the Biden family and how she admired his political career.
This is yet another reminder that Harris will say just about anything to advance her political ends.
If she has really been longtime friends with the Biden family, she was willing to throw him under the bus (no pun intended) if it helped her Democratic primary campaign. But she later abandoned her own position on busing after being pressed about it, and on important policies, such as “Medicare for all,” she has flip-flopped so many times it’s difficult to figure out what she actually supports.
Her support of Biden is no different. She strenuously opposed him when he was her primary opponent but embraced him as soon as it became clear he could further her political career. There are many political opportunists in Washington, but Harris might just be chief among them. And it raises the question: Is this the kind of vice president Biden wants?
