During a sit-down interview with MSNBC “Kasie DC” host Kasie Hunt, 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) discussed her contentious exchange with former Vice President Joe Biden on the debate stage over his segregationist comments and over busing.

Harris said she “felt the need to talk about it” to clear up just the kind of people Biden was feeling nostalgic about having worked with in the past.

“When did you decide that that’s what you were going to do?” asked Hunt in the interview which aired Sunday.

“I mean, I have to be obviously candid with you. From the moment that I heard his comments about these segregationists, it was troubling and it was hurtful,” Harris explained to Hunt. “I think that also part of my feeling about it was to hear those words from someone I respect in a way that kind of … suggests a bit of nostalgia about who these guys were — they were segregationists. They built their careers and reputations on segregation of the racists.”

She added, “I just felt the need to talk about it in a way that was not about — not only in the context of just some academic discussion about who do you work with, but also let’s just be really clear about what these guys were about.”

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