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<\/a><\/p>\nHawaii Rep.\u00a0Tulsi Gabbard<\/a>\u00a0is accusing her Democratic presidential primary opponent Sen.\u00a0Kamala Harris<\/a>\u00a0of staging a “political ploy” to smear former Vice President\u00a0Joe Biden<\/a>‘s reputation and his record on civil rights.<\/p>\n In an interview on\u00a0CBSN’s “Red & Blue”<\/a>\u00a0that streamed Monday, Gabbard said Harris has been “leveling this accusation that Joe Biden is a racist \u2014 when he’s clearly not \u2014 as a way to try to smear him.” She tweeted a\u00a0similar sentiment<\/a>\u00a0earlier in the day.<\/p>\n Biden, the early front-runner in the crowded Democratic primary, has been facing withering criticism from fellow Democrats over his comments about working with segregationist lawmakers, most pointedly by Harris, a woman of color, during\u00a0the first Democratic debate<\/a>\u00a0in Miami late last month.<\/p>\n A spokesman for Harris could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.<\/p>\n Harris noted Biden opposed federal measures to ensure that local jurisdictions used busing to desegregate public schools during the 1970s, saying the position was personally painful for her. Biden pushed back on her criticism by stating he opposed busing ordered by the Department of Education.<\/p>\n On Saturday, the former vice president under President Obama told a predominantly African-American audience in South Carolina that\u00a0he was sorry<\/a><\/span>\u00a0about the pain his remarks may have caused. Harris applauded his apology but said there was still a “point of disagreement” between the two on federally-mandated busing.<\/p>\n But Gabbard believes Harris’ criticism of Biden is part of an unfair campaign effort by the California senator to boost her standing in the large primary field. She suggested that Harris’ stance on busing today is hypocritical.<\/p>\n “Really what she’s saying saying is her position is the same one she was criticizing Joe Biden for,” she said. “So this is just a political ploy and I think a very underhanded one just to try get herself attention, to move herself up in the polls.”<\/p>\n “I think we need to be above that,” Gabbard added. “All of us.”<\/p>\n