‘That Was Some F*cking Bullsh*t’: Biden Reportedly Fumed at Kamala Harris Attack in Presidential Debate

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appear to enjoy a collaborative relationship built on genuine mutual admiration and respect, but things between the two were not always so warm. Take for example the moment that then-candidate Harris attacked Biden’s position on busing and alleged he had been too cozy with known segregationists during a 2019 primary debate.

Politico Magazine has published a deep dive into that fiery moment, which led Harris to be seen as the winner of that debate — and almost kept Harris from becoming Biden’s running mate. Oh, and there is the detail of how Biden reacted to Senator Harris’s political ambush.

The deep dive is titled “The Inside Story of the Biden-Harris Debate Blowup,” which is effectively described by the DEK as follows: “President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have appeared so in lockstep that it’s hard to remember how tense their early campaign days were.” Writer Edward-Isaac Dovere goes into great detail about how that moment came to be, and how Biden reacted.

Harris famously attacked Biden’s past political positions by opening with the old “I’m not saying you are a racist, but…” rhetorical gambit. Or let’s look at her exact words:

I’m going to now direct this at Vice President Biden: I do not believe you are a racist, and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground. But I also believe, and it’s personal—it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country. And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. And, you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.

Biden was initially taken aback and the normally calm and cool demeanor dissipated while he stammered to hit back at the surprise attack. One could see his thought process in real-time as he struggled with the “I’m not a racist” defense, which cedes the framing to the attacker, who in this case was not only an old friend of Biden’s deceased son Beau Biden but also his future running mate.

But as NBC, the broadcaster of the debate, took a commercial break, Biden reportedly vented to another fellow candidate and future cabinet member of his administration, Pete Buttigieg. Dovere writes:

Biden, taken aback, plodded through a response. She was mischaracterizing his position, he said. That’s not what he stood for, and she knew that. He found his way to the end of the answer and stopped speaking.

A few minutes later, the moderators paused for a commercial break. Biden leaned over to Pete Buttigieg, at the podium to his right. They barely knew each other, but Biden was looking for someone to share the moment with.

“Well,” he said, according to multiple people to whom the conversation was relayed afterward. “That was some f—ing bullshit.”

The moment of Biden calling of Harris’s attack privately to Buttigieg was not viewable to those watching on TV at the moment, and a cursory effort to find the footage came up empty. You can see the debate moment above, via NBC News.