US election 2020: Joe Biden attacked over race record in second debate

Kamala Harris assails frontrunner on his
past during feisty exchange

One-Minute Read

The Guardian says the “explosive exchange… rattled the field’s
frontrunner,” while Fox News says the former district attorney
“tapped into her prosecutor toolbox” for the attack.

“I do not believe you are a racist,” Harris told Biden. “But it
is personal and it was actually 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.”

Biden responded: “That is a mischaracterisation of my position
across the board. I did not praise racists.”

But Harris then attacked Biden on bussing, saying that when he
opposed bussing, there was a young black girl in Oakland,
California, who was being bussed to a better school. “And that
little girl was me,” Harris said.

This time, a visibly rattled Biden responded: “What I opposed is
bussing ordered by the Department of education. That’s what I
opposed.”

CNN put Harris down as the evening’s big winner. It praised her
as “calm, poised, knowledgeable and, yes, presidential”. CNBC also describes her as the “winner” and
points out that, according to Google Trends, searches on Google for
“bussing” spiked more than 3,000% after she raised the issue.

Donald Trump came under attack during the debate, with Bernie
Sanders calling the US president a “pathological liar” who had
tricked American workers. The veteran said the best way to beat
Trump to “expose him for the fraud that he is”.

Trump, who is attending the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan,
responded by tweeting: “How about taking care of American
Citizens first!? That’s the end of that race!”