Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Thursday said he hopes he can maintain a cordial relationship with Sen. Kamala D. Harris, even as he has taken incoming fire from Ms. Harris and others recently on his record on civil rights issues.

“I thought we were friends — I hope we still will be,” Mr. Biden said on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show.” “She … called me and asked me to go to her convention and be the guy from outside of California to nominate her at her convention for the Senate seat. I did. We’ve talked. We’ve worked a lot together.”

“She and my son Beau were attorneys general who took on the banks,” he said.

At the first 2020 Democratic presidential debate last month, Ms. Harris went after Mr. Biden for his past positions on desegregation busing and for comments touting his past work with segregationist senators.

Asked if he had spoken with her since the debate, Mr. Biden said he thought he saw her in passing at Rep. James Clyburn’s fish fry and said hi to her.

It was then pointed out to him that Mr. Clyburn’s event took place before the debate.

“Well, I can’t remember — I did see her, it’s cordial, but I have to admit to you I was a little surprised,” he said.

Mr. Biden has since defended his record on civil rights amid attacks from candidates such as Ms. Harris and Sen. Cory A. Booker.

“All this stuff about who I cooperated with and didn’t, guess what? As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I got the Voting Rights Act extended 25 years — never happened before,” he said on Thursday.

He also said he would be out with a new proposal shortly that would steer “hundreds of millions of dollars” toward Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

“The black agenda is America’s agenda,” he said.

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