Axios’ Jonathan Swan Apologizes for Saying Kamala Harris ‘Effectively Called Biden a Racist’ During Primary: ‘Unfairly Characterized’
Axios reporter Jonathan Swan corrected the record on Sunday after he inaccurately said Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) “effectively” called former Vice President Joe Biden racist.
Swan took part in the panel discussion on Sunday for ABC’s This Week, where part of the conversation revolved around who Biden will pick as his 2020 election running mate. Harris is thought to be among the most likely candidates Biden will choose, but Swan spoke about why some of the ex-veep’s allies are trying to diminish her chances.
You’ve seen that panic rise to the surface in various news articles, and from the way it’s been described to me by several people, Biden wants somebody who can be a partner, work with, who can be the same role he served for Barack Obama.
Swan continued by saying Biden’s inner circle “don’t have a great deal of affection” for Harris because of how she prominently challenged Biden’s civil rights record as they competed for the Democratic nomination.
“They haven’t forgotten that she effectively called him a racist on the debate stage,” Swan said. “Again, it’s a tug and a pull and I don’t portend to have any perfect wisdom of where they’re going to land because it’s been tightly held in a tiny group around the vice president.”
As Martha Raddatz moved the discussion along, she noted the recent photo of Biden’s speech notes containing the bullet point “do NOT hold grudges” with regard to Harris. Perry Bacon Jr. was the next to join the fray, and he started by correcting Swan about what Harris did in her confrontation with Biden.
“Just to be clear, I don’t believe she called him a racist,” Bacon said. “I believed she criticized his school integration views.”
Following the panel, Swan got on Twitter, admitted his statement about Harris was incorrect, and he thanked Bacon for the on-air correction.
On @ThisWeekABC I inaccurately and unfairly characterized what @KamalaHarris said about @JoeBiden on the debate stage. She did not “effectively call him racist.” I am sorry for this mistake, and I appreciate @perrybaconjr for correcting it on air.
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) August 2, 2020
Watch above, via ABC.
