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Jones, who was "green jobs czar" during the Obama administration, added that Biden's refusal to apologize "was a heartbreaking moment."



“My heart breaks about it at a personal level because all he had to do was say, ‘You know what? I think I was wrong there,' " Jones said. "If he had just said, ‘You know what, Kamala? I think I was wrong then, and I’ve learned something, and I’ve learned something from talking to people like you.' "

"It was a heartbreaking moment," he added.

Biden defended his position Thursday on MSNBC after the debate.

“Let me say as an African American why that was just unacceptable. That very argument was the argument that was used, that the federal government should leave us,” Jones said on CNN.“So he just took the heart out of the civil rights movement with that argument," Jones added. "Our plea was that we are one, the Constitution applies to all of us, and we want the federal government to stand with us and against the local racists.”“I supported busing to eliminate de jure segregation,” Biden said. "But what we’re talking about is whether or not the Department of Education, as opposed to the courts, could order de jure segregation, meaning segregation imposed by law.”“I supported the court’s ability to strike down any, to order busing, in fact I voted against an amendment that came up in the Senate ... that wanted to take away the power of the court to stop busing.”