History repeats itself: just like Barack Obama picked one of his former primary race opponents, Joe Biden, to be his running mate, so did the former vice president himself, choosing California Senator Kamala Harris as his partner in the 3 November presidential election. And just like in 2008 with Obama and Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee and his pick for vice president have a history of criticising each other during the primaries, but which ultimately did not stop them from partnering up.
Here are five times that Biden and Harris clashed during the Democratic primaries:
- Harris called out the former vice president during the 27 June 2019 debate for having boasted of being able to deal with politicians of all political persuasions, bringing up the fact that he worked with two segregationist lawmakers, James Eastland and Herman Talmadge. The African-American senator for California called Biden's words "hurtful", but admitted that she doesn't consider the former vice president a "racist".
Former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris shake hands before the start of the second night of the second U.S. 2020 presidential Democratic candidates debate in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., July 31, 2019.
© REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
- During the same debate, Harris slammed Biden for opposing the bussing policy, which was aimed at ending segregation in schools, back when he was cooperating with the two aforementioned lawmakers. The former vice president responded by saying it was a "mischaracterisation of my position across the board" and snapped back at Harris, arguing that his record of supporting civil rights as a public defender was greater than that of the California senator, who built her career as a prosecutor.
- During a September 2019 debate, Biden's VP pick mockingly questioned the resolve of the former vice president to address gun control issues. When Biden stated that no US president would be able to singlehandedly ban assault weapons in the country, Harris suggested that instead of saying "no", the presidential hopeful should have said "yes we can" do gun control, in an apparent reference to the Obama campaign's slogan.
Former Vice President Joe Biden talks with Senator Kamala Harris after the conclusion of the 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Houston, Texas, U.S., September 12, 2019
© REUTERS / Mike Blake
- The California senator also once poked at Biden when he made another public gaffe during a November 2019 debate, in which he claimed that the "only African-American woman that had ever been elected to the US Senate" had endorsed him. Harris reminded the former vice president that there was another African-American woman in the US Senate, herself specifically, who had not endorsed him.
- Biden didn't pull any punches either, especially when it came to criticising Harris' plans for healthcare, arguing that her proposed policies would cost $3 trillion to implement and would kill employer-based insurance. The California senator didn't yield, however, arguing that Biden's own plans risk leaving 10 million Americans without insurance and adding that "doing nothing" is more expensive than $3 trillion.
