CNN Exclusive: Joe Biden says he wasn't prepared for Kamala Harris to confront him the way she did

[Eugene]

Source: CNN

CNN Exclusive: Joe Biden says he wasn't prepared for Kamala Harris to confront him the way she did

By Dan Merica, CNN
Updated 1540 GMT (2340 HKT) July 5, 2019

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) — Former Vice President Joe Biden said in an exclusive interview with CNN airing Friday that he wasn't prepared for California Sen. Kamala Harris to confront him on issues of race the way she did at the first Democratic primary debate.

Biden told CNN's Chris Cuomo that while he was prepared to be a focal point at last week's debate, he didn't anticipate that Harris would be the candidate leading the charge. He also said he didn't expect to be faulted on issues of race, given his record on civil rights.

"I was prepared for them to come after me, but I wasn't prepared for the person coming at me the way she came at me," Biden told Cuomo on Thursday evening in Iowa, adding that he felt that way in part because he knew Harris well and Harris knew his late son, Beau Biden, too.

Harris, a former prosecutor, confronted Biden over his decades-old Senate fight against busing to desegregate schools and comments about his ability to be civil and work with segregationist senators. The clash defined the second night of the debate and has helped boost Harris in post-debate polls, bringing Biden's once-high numbers closer to the pack of Democratic presidential hopefuls.

-snip-

Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/05/politics/joe-biden-cnn-interview/index.html

[murielm99]

1. I don't think he should have said that. n/t

[still_one]

2. Why, if that is what he thought?

[thesquanderer]

7. It kind of comes off like he felt betrayed by a friend...

...which in turn makes Harris come off like a friend who can't be trusted, or who fights dirty.

That said, it looks like maybe he thought better of saying it, even as he was saying it. He didn't complete the thought and quickly went elsewhere. See what you think, it's at 5:03 in the video at

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/05/politics/joe-biden-cnn-interview/index.html

Watch the first 30 seconds or so first, for some additional context for that. All in all, I think it comes off a bit like, she knows better, it's not a real issue, she's just looking to score cheap political points, surprisingly against a friend who wouldn't have expected that from her.

[still_one]

9. Thanks. I read it differently though. I think he is just saying what some others have been saying

that he wasn't prepared

[nsd]

13. I think you're right.

I think that was what was going through his mind. But I don't have any problem with him saying it out loud. People like Biden because they think he's authentic and plays it straight, even when more polished politicians wouldn't.

[onetexan]

17. with the way she swung at him i'd be tempted to call her a "Frenemy"

be nice to you then stab you in the back when it's expedient for her.

[brooklynite]

24. He's also saying his staff didn't prepare him...

...which may mean his staff let’s it be known w the he didn’t listen to their advice. David Axelrod and Mike Murphy thought he’d be hard to manage.

[Thekaspervote]

27. This photo was widely circulated. I do not know the date, but yes one can see why he was surprised

https://www.google.com/search?q=picture+of+kamala+harris+and+joe+biden&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=niv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjnrqKioJ_jAhVIOs0KHf2cACMQ_AUoAnoECA0QAg#imgrc=TUUkhiusDgZNaM&imgdii=XBs4H90JTjb2OM

There are others

[StarfishSaver]

32. And there'll be plenty more of these in the future

The people in the ring don't take things as personally as the people watching from the sidelines do.

[murielm99]

16. I think he did sound unprepared.

The media will crucify him for that.

OTOH, I like the way Mayor Pete is taking responsibility for the problems in South Bend. Perhaps I should give Joe the same benefit of the doubt.

As long as he is the front runner, Joe will be attacked. Yet I feel uncomfortable that he answered that way.

[bluewater]

20. why get personal?

[Cha]

25. Exactly.. Biden speaks from

his heart.. the way I see it.

[still_one]

26. Same here Cha

[hlthe2b]

4. He carries his heart on his sleeve. While unprepared for it, I think he did not react immediately

because he was hurt. Of course, those hardened by ugly politics will bemoan a "poltico" with so many decades of experience for being "naive'" I don't think that is the explanation. I just think he is one of the rare politicians who manage to keep their cynicism to a low simmer.

That said, there was a brief glimmer of recognition for what she was doing--much like "mentor" pride.

[highplainsdem]

29. +1,000,000

[StarfishSaver]

34. Interesting

When Harris said she found Biden's comments "hurtful," she was attacked up and down on this site. Among other things, some people went after her for sounding weak.

Women just can't win. When they're firm, they're too aggressive and angry. When they express their feelings, they're weak. On the other hand, men get to have it both ways. He can threaten to punch his opponent in the mouth and he's tough. If his feelings get hurt, because an opponent said something he didn't like, he's not weak - he' just "keeps his cynicism to a low simmer."

:shrug"

[nsd]

10. Why not?

One of Biden's great strengths is that he comes off as an authentic person. He's not as polished as one might expect of someone who has been in politics for 50 years; he wears his heart on his sleeve. That's what people like about him.

[Chitown Kev]

3. It was his non-preparation

more than anything that I was critical of.

Both Harris and Booker made comments prior to the debate and Harris wrote about her bussing experience in her book.

Biden should have been prepared with either good comebacks or alternative policy suggestions...and Benett scored is only points of the night on Biden.

No,Mr. Biden, you are not entitled to become the nominee...fight like you want it...be a little ruthless, if necessary...that's kinda what it will take to beat Trump and it is what I would like to see in a President

[stopbush]

5. This

[Retrograde]

35. It's nothing like he'd have to face if he were the nominee

Trump's not going to play nice, nor is Fox, so get used to being able to think on your feet.

[Demit]

6. Harris knew Beau Biden too. What does that have to do with anything?

[thesquanderer]

12. Please see my post #7

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287190526#post7

[Demit]

14. Why?

Why not save me the trouble of looking up what you want to tell me?

[thesquanderer]

19. Trying to make the site better for other readers.

For you, it would just be a click or tap. If instead I had re-posted what I'd already said (rather than pointing you to it), then others reading the thread could get annoyed by seeing the same thing posted over again. The approach I took made it obvious to others that there was no new content in the post, and they could skip it.

Also, by referring you to where I had already posted it, you could then easily also see other people's responses to it, potentially increasing the intrinsic value for you of going to that post vs. seeing the same info elsewhere without anyone else's feedback.

Lastly, by posting the thought in one place in the thread instead of in multiple places, all comments from other people are consolidated in one location, instead of split into multiple spots, which also probably makes it better for everyone.

[Demit]

22. One thing you overlooked: I had no way of knowing if the comment was in this thread,

without clicking. It could have been another thread entirely. People do that, you know, to get views.

I am quite capable of reading other people's responses without being directed to them, just fyi. You are aware that when a thread is interesting people return to it, to see what other comments have been posted? I might even have come back to yours without your brusque and peremptory "see my post."

[thesquanderer]

23. I was just trying to be helpful, to you and to others.

I might even have come back to yours without your brusque and peremptory "see my post."

I did say please. It was my answer to your question. What more should I have said? I've seen others do the same kind of thing, I didn't know anyone would be put off by it. Anyway, of course, there's no need to read my post if you don't want to. No big deal.

[Mike Nelson]

8. He should have been...

… prepared. This is the nomination for the POTUS. I think it was Hillary Clinton who said don't ever think it's handed to you... even if the media says you're anointed. It's nice if that happens, but never expect it... he should be prepared for telegraphed confrontations, like this one was, and some left-field confrontations, too..

[lapfog_1]

11. Candidate speaks a truth... and the media and many opponents are shocked

he wasn't prepared for something that happened 40 years ago and which was wildly unpopular at the time.

Should he have been prepared... maybe.

But the media LOVES a controversy almost as much as a "horse race".

So... here we go.

[Thekaspervote]

28. Yes, as mentioned above he must have felt betrayed. Fool me once... I doubt he will be fooled again

[zentrum]

15. Well, he should have been

...prepared. How could he not be ready for a question on busing? Does this mean he really hasn't given it much thought since?

Our final candidate needs to be really on his toes.

It's especially inexplicable given all the media coverage of his comments about Eastland just prior to the debates. Earth to Joe?

And PS---if he wasn't prepared---he shouldn't admit it. Looks more and more un-savvy. In

[sacto95834]

31. Agreed, he should have expected this

1. He gave his speech where he talked about working w/the two racist senators, which I thought in this day and age was almost tone deaf. Surely he could have found a better example of bipartisanship.

2. Harris and Booker immediately pushed back; stating their disappointment in what he had to say about the southern senators.

3. Biden then refuted their statements.

What did he expect? I'm sure Booker will also push back if he's on the same panel as Biden in the next series of debates.

To not have thought through a plausible answer was suicide in my opinion. At the debate Biden's response was weak and meandering. Which made his performance overall look bad.

[zentrum]

21. As noted on Daily Kos

...by staff writer Joan McCarter:

Biden runs on his experience, but doesn't think it's fair of opponents to use his record against him

Can't have it both ways Joe.

[Thekaspervote]

30. That's one writer's opinion and entitled. YES YES

Use his record against him PLEASE. A great record on civil rights, women’s rights, LBGQT rights including marriage equality.

And if you care to read further

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Joe_Biden

[emmaverybo]

33. I think he meant he wasn't prepared for her emotional and personalized ambush, the whole

bit of theater that ends with “you tried to kill me and thousands like me, but I survived!” He is not going to characterize her tactics.

I have never seen a debate in which someone put a rival into the position of being attacked by
a personal experience.

How anyone defends herself at that moment without looking like an ogre, I don’t know,especially when it is obvious the ambusher has the audience in her emotional corner.

And he is not going to say she misrepresented her own experience.

Not the first woman he has championed who came back to bite him.

[R B Garr]

36. You nailed it. I did hear him say they knew one another

and she knew Beau, implying he thought they were closer than to be sucker punched like that. That was from the CNN interview yesterday, I believe. Maybe from their mutual association with Obama, he thought they were more simpatico.

I agree, I’ve never seen that kind of emotional display in a debate before. There was no way he could defend himself against the emotionality and personal story.