Fact check: Video lacks context about Harris' debate criticism of Biden's record on race

Devon Link, USA TODAY
·8 min read
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The claim: Vice President Kamala Harris thinks President Joe Biden is racist

A viral video is using one of the 2020 Democratic primary debates' most heated moments to question Vice President Kamala Harris’ views of President Joe Biden. The video, which combines clips of Harris criticizing Biden’s record on busing and remarks about his segregationist colleagues in the Senate, tells a misleading story about their relationship.

Conservative comedian Kevan “K-von” Moezzi posted the video on Feb. 14 with the title “Kamala Harris is Furious About Biden's Racism.”

The video begins with a series of images of President Donald Trump with Black women, before cutting to several clips of Harris criticizing Biden’s record on busing and his remarks about two segregationists senators.

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“It was personal, and I was actually very – 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 in reference to Biden’s relationship with segregationist former Sens. James Eastland, D-Miss., and Herman Talmadge, D-Ga.

She then discussed the California busing program she was part of as a child. The video then appears to show Biden admitting that he does not think it was wrong to oppose busing in his early Senate career.

“To coddle the reputations of segregationists, of people who if they had their way I would literally not be standing here as a member of the United States Senate is, I think, it’s misinformed and it’s wrong,” Harris says in the following clip.

These clips are edited to tell a misleading story about the real race-related controversies Biden and Harris navigated along the presidential primary campaign trail. Harris criticized Biden for lauding his relationships with segregationist senators and called out his record on school busing. However, she never called him racist and held that she respected him despite disagreeing with him.

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“Kamala Harris now pretends she loves Biden? So, was she really mad... or is she REALLY fake... or BOTH?,” Moezzi captioned the post.

Moezzi has posted other videos excusing Trump from racist acts and accusing Biden of racism.

He told USA TODAY he feels Harris has downplayed Biden's racist acts since joining him on the ticket.

"If she believes (her past criticism) to be true, then she should not be working under him," he wrote in an email. "If she was just joking, and it was 'just a debate,' she should be held accountable."

Biden touts ‘civility’ with segregationists

At a June 18, 2019, fundraiser, Biden controversially promoted his relationship with Eastland and Talmadge as evidence of how he was able to “(get) things done” in Congress.

“At least there was some civility. We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished,” he said. “But today, you look at the other side, and you’re the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don't talk to each other anymore.”

His remarks about "civility"’ quickly drew criticism from his Democratic primary opponents, including Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Harris.

Harris criticizes Biden for coddling segregationists

Harris criticized Biden’s remarks to reporters the next day. A longer video of her comment shows she said she respected Biden and his work before criticizing him. Moezzi's video cuts out that part of the clip.

“I have a great deal of respect for Vice President Biden. He’s done very good work and he’s served our country in a very noble way, but to coddle the reputations of segregationists, of people who if they had their way I would literally not be standing here as a member of the United States Senate, it’s misinformed and it’s wrong,” Harris’ said to reporters on June 19.

At debate, Harris said Biden was not a racist

Full video of the exchange at the Democratic debate on June 27, 2019, shows Harris did not call Biden racist.

“I am going to now 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,” she said before criticizing Biden.

On the debate stage, Biden called Harris’ criticism a “mischaracterization” of his position on racism.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during the Democratic primary debate hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Art, June 27, 2019, in Miami.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during the Democratic primary debate hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Art, June 27, 2019, in Miami.

When Harris asked Biden to agree that his previous opposition to busing programs was wrong, he did not simply say no as the video purports. “No, I did not oppose busing in America. What I opposed was busing ordered by the Department of Education,” he said.

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Harris then criticized Biden for not supporting federal intervention when states failed to integrate schools in the years following the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

Biden’s record on busing

As a freshman senator in the 1970s, Biden opposed federally mandated busing as a school integration method. He led a Senate busing opposition group and asked the Justice Department to intervene against busing.

"I want to be absolutely clear on my record and history on racial justice, including busing. I never, never, never ever opposed voluntary busing,” Biden said at a civil rights convention the day after the debate.

"He has chosen the state rights side of the ledger," Rev. Jesse Jackson told USA TODAY in June 2019. "That doesn't make him a bad guy, but it puts him on the other team."

In a July 5, 2019, interview with CNN, Biden stood by his history on busing, arguing it “did not work” and explaining that African Americans in Delaware whom he represented “did not support it.”

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He said that his approach to addressing education inequality at the time focused more on education funding and equity. Biden said that he believed there should be adequate schools in every neighborhood so students wouldn’t have to get on a bus to go to school.

Biden apologizing for comments on segregationists

On July 6, 2019, Biden apologized for his comments about Eastland and Talmadge.

President Joe Biden stands on stage during a break in a televised town hall event at Pabst Theater, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Milwaukee.
President Joe Biden stands on stage during a break in a televised town hall event at Pabst Theater, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Milwaukee.

“I regret it, and I’m sorry for any of the pain of misconception that caused anybody,” he said.

“I’m flawed and imperfect like everyone else. I’ve made the best decisions that I could at the moment they had to be made,” Biden said. “If the choice is between doing nothing and acting, I’ve chosen to act.”

Harris stresses, 'It was a debate!'

After Harris was floated as a possible running mate on Biden's ticket, she discussed the heated primary debate exchange during a June 18, 2020, interview with Stephen Colbert. When Colbert pressed Harris about how she and Biden could reach common ground after their heated debates she repeatedly said, "It was a debate!"

"I've known Joe a long time and I care about him deeply," she said. "As you know, we all have family members or friends with whom we have disagreements. That doesn't overcome or overshadow the commonality between us and the connection between us."

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., pass each other as Harris moves to the podium to speak during a campaign event at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del. ()
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., pass each other as Harris moves to the podium to speak during a campaign event at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del. ()

Our rating: Missing context

We rate a viral video that argues Vice President Kamala Harris is "fake" and only "pretends" to be loyal to President Joe Biden after criticizing his record on racial issues on the primary campaign trail MISSING CONTEXT because it could mislead viewers about Harris and Biden's relationship. While Harris has criticized Biden for his record on busing and his 2019 remarks about segregationist senators, she had held that she respects Biden and does not think he is a racist. Harris and Biden may disagree on certain issues but that does not negate their other shared views.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Video about Biden-Harris relationship misses vital context