During the first round of Democratic primary debates in June 2019, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) attacked now-presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden over his opposition to federally mandated busing in the 1970s. Soon after the attack rocketed Harris to the national spotlight, she admitted she did not support such a policy.
Her refusal to apologize for the fraudulent attack on Biden may cost her a chance to be his vice-presidential candidate. Biden has repeatedly said he would select a woman of color as his vice-presidential candidate, leading many to believe Harris would be a prime choice, despite her history of arresting African-Americans for low-level drug offenses in California.
A new report from Politico, however, suggests Harris isn’t a “lock” for the VP nod. Not due to her history as California’s Attorney General that is now anathema to the Democratic Party, but because she didn’t apologize for what she did to Biden during that first debate.
Former Sen. Chris Dodd is part of Biden’s vice presidential search committee and asked Harris about her attack on Biden during the debate.
“She laughed and said, ‘that’s politics.’ She had no remorse,” Dodd told a Biden supporter and donor, who shared this exchange with Politico. “Dodd felt it was a gimmick, that it was cheap.”
That donor told Politico that Dodd was so concerned with Harris that he “helped elevate California Rep. Karen Bass during the vetting process, urging Biden to pick her because ‘she’s a loyal No. 2. And that’s what Biden really wants,’” the outlet reported.
More from Politico:
And people in three other competing camps privately said that while their candidates have a shot for VP, Harris is more likely to get the nod.
Yet with Biden set to make his decision as soon as the beginning of August, there are still hang-ups over Harris — largely over the matter of trust.
Former high-ranking Democratic Party officials and elected officials have expressed concerns about her to the vetting committee in recent weeks, according to four sources who’ve spoken to the Biden vetting team.
Biden’s team apparently thinks Harris “is the closest Biden has to a ‘do no harm’ option,” Politico reported. Harris, however, imprisoned thousands of African Americans in California for low-level drug offenses and truancy, which contributed to over-policing. The Democratic Party is now allowing many high-profile members to openly call for abolishing police departments, with some liberal cities actually voting for such a measure.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, after Harris attacked Biden for his decades-old support for federally mandated busing, she changed her position, telling a crowd that she thinks “of busing as being in the toolbox of what is available and what can be used for the goal of desegregating America’s schools,” and not that it should be mandated.
“I believe that any tool that is in the toolbox should be considered by a school district,” she said further, bringing her more in line with Biden’s old position.