Biden defends civil rights record after Harris debate comments

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday defended his civil rights record the day after California Sen. Kamala Harris assailed him over race and busing in a Democratic presidential debate.

“I heard and I listened to and I respect Sen. Harris,” Biden said at a Rainbow PUSH Coalition event on the west side of Chicago. “But, you know, we all know that 30 seconds to 60 seconds in a campaign debate exchange can’t do justice to a lifetime committed to civil rights.”

Biden went on to deliver a lengthy defense of his civil rights record, reading from a Teleprompter as he sought to limit the damage of Thursday night’s debate.

“I never, never, never have opposed voluntary busing,” Biden said. He said that’s the program Harris — who used her experience growing up in Berkeley to assail Biden’s early-career opposition to federally mandated busing to integrate schools — grew up with.

“I did support federal action to address root causes of segregation,” he said, pointing to his opposition to racial discrimination in mortgage lending and votes he cast that drew the ire of his white constituents.

He also backed away from his debate-stage argument in favor of states’ rights, saying that “I fought my heart out to make sure that civil rights, voting rights, equal rights are enforced everywhere” and that it’s the “federal government’s duty” to ensure their enforcement.

“That’s why I ran for federal office in the first place,” he said.

Biden praised former President Barack Obama, for whom he was vice president, saying Obama “had a backbone like a ramrod.”

“The discussion in this race shouldn’t be about the past,” he said.

This story is breaking and will be updated.