2020 elections 'I don't have to atone': Biden dismisses busing controversy

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — Joe Biden on Thursday dismissed the school busing controversy between him and Kamala Harris as a dated issue that “99 percent” of Americans are unfamiliar with, while asserting he is still “way ahead” in the Democratic presidential campaign.

Describing himself as an “overwhelming supporter of civil rights and civil liberties,” he said, “My record stands for itself.”


“I don’t have to atone,” Biden told reporters after darting through an Independence Day parade in Iowa.

Biden’s remarks come a week after Harris criticized him in a presidential debate for his past opposition to busing and former associations with segregationist senators. Harris surged in public opinion polls following the debate, while Biden fell back.

Following an Associated Press report on Wednesday that Harris said busing students today should be “in the toolbox of what is available and what can be used for the goal of desegregating America’s schools.” Biden responded that Harris is “absolutely right.”

When asked if Harris’ view of busing now was similar to the position she challenged him for holding decades ago, Biden said, “Look, she’s a good person, she is smart as can be, and she feels strongly.”

He said Harris’ criticism “came out of nowhere” and “didn’t seem to be something at all consistent with anything I’d been accused of before.”

Then, he said, “We need to talk about the future … Busing is something that 99 percent of the American people don’t even know what we’re talking about here.”

Biden spoke to reporters after participating in a parade here, racing back and forth to greet parade-goers on the sidewalks, including one who had yelled at him, “Sleepy Joe!”

At times, Biden jogged, leaving fellow candidate Beto O’Rourke, who had started the parade two car-lengths behind him, several blocks back.

Biden said he was pleased with his debate performance and, when asked about his recent dip in polls, responded, “I’m still way ahead.”

But he appeared to lament the tone of the debate last week.

“I’m not going to go back and talk about the record of anyone from 10, 20, 30 years ago,” Biden said. “There’s a lot out there that a lot of people would like to do differently than they did. But everything is lost in context, as well. The context of the time is something that the vast majority of people don’t know from 25 or 30 years ago. And so, you can easily distort it, particularly in 60 seconds if you have 30 seconds to respond.”

He said Democrats should focus on their current proposals to address education, health care and “a whole range of other things.”

“Let’s move on and talk about what do we do now,” he said.