Restates support

Warren restates support for busing amid Biden-Harris duel

By ALEX THOMPSON

Sen. Elizabeth Warren reiterated her support for federal busing programs the night after Sen. Kamala Harris confronted former Vice President Joe Biden over his past opposition to federal intervention on the issue.

“I’m already on record on busing and using busing as a way to help communities that are diversifying,” the Democratic presidential candidate told reporters Friday following a raucous rally in Chicago with about 3,600 people, hundreds waving placards imprinted with “Warren has a plan for that!”

Warren was referencing the Strength in Diversity Act, of which she is a co-sponsor along with presidential rival Sen. Bernie Sanders. The bill would provide $120 million in grants to support local efforts aimed at increasing socioeconomic diversity in schools, including busing.

The renewed conversation about busing and integrating public schools came the day after Harris and Biden clashed at Thursday night’s presidential debate over his past stances on the issue. Harris used her personal story in criticizing Biden, saying “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.”

Harris’ campaign has been pressing Biden to admit he was wrong. The former vice president’s campaign has so far defended his position.

“I think if we have an honest discussion on the impacts of busing, there are a lot of people who would say it hasn’t been the best remedy to integrate schools,” Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, told MSNBC on Friday.

But Warren attempted to stay above the fray Friday night. “I’m not here to criticize, I’m here to talk about how we build a future,” she said when asked about Biden’s remark earlier in the day about “[t]hat kid wearing a hoodie might be the next poet laureate and not a gang banger."

That comment drew a rebuke from rival candidate Cory Booker, who tweeted that “[t]his isn’t about a hoodie. It’s about a culture that sees a problem with a kid wearing a hoodie in the first place. Our nominee needs to have the language to talk about race in a far more constructive way.”

Warren left it to others to pummel Biden. Her only reference to Miami in her remarks Friday night was to discuss visiting the Homestead child detention center. “No great country locks up children,” Warren said. “No great country separates children from their families. No great country lets profiteers make money off locking up desperate people."

Otherwise, Warren seemed to revel in the large, boisterous crowd for her 102nd town hall. Chanting “Warren! Warren! Warren!” and “Bruuuuuuuuce” when the senator pointed to her husband, the crowd at the historic Auditorium Theatre was one of the largest at a Warren event so far.

Warren also noted she was hosting a town hall Friday night instead of hosting fundraisers before Sunday’s FEC fundraising deadline — a not-so-subtle jab at her rivals. Warren has sworn off fundraisers during the Democratic presidential primary, a move that her campaign argues significantly opens up her schedule and also distinguishes her from all the other candidates except Sanders.

“Look I am living my values every single day in this campaign,” Warren told reporters when asked about a reported fundraiser for Harris with a former Wells Fargo executive. “This is what a grassroots movement looks like, it’s about town halls that are open to everyone, it’s not about going behind closed doors with millionaires and people who want influence.”