Biden addresses Kamala Harris slamming him at first debate: ‘I hope we’re still friends’

Joe Biden Presidential Run — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a memorial service to honor those killed In Chattanooga shooting at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s McKenzie Arena on August 15, 2015 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The military is putting on the ceremony to honor the sailor and four Marines killed and to say thank you to the men and women who helped responded when Mohammad Abdulazeez shot up a military recruitment center and a Navy operations support center before being killed by law enforcement, (Photo by Jason Davis/Getty Images)

Weeks after being bested by Kamala Harris in the first Democratic primary debate, Joe Biden may still be processing exactly what happened that evening.

According to Washington Times, Thursday, during a segment on The Tom Joyner Morning Show, co-host Sybil Wilkes asked the former vice president how things have been going with his formidable opponent since she annihilated him in front of the whole country.

“Have you and Senator Harris talked since the last situation that you had at the debates?” inquired Wilkes.

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“I think I saw her in passing, I think at the fish fry, Jim Clyburn, said hi to her,” Biden said, adding “Look, we were, no I’m serious look, we, I thought we were friends, and I hope we still will be.”

“You know, she asked me to go out and called me and asked me to go to her convention and be the guy from outside of California to nominate her at her convention for the Senate seat,” he continued. “I did. We’ve talked, we’ve worked a lot together, she and my son Beau were attorneys general who took on the banks.”

“But I think the fish fry was before the debate, if I’m not mistaken,” Wilkes pointed out. She’s right, it was.

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Rep. Tulsi Gabbard stands by her criticism of Sen. Kamala Harris’ exchange with Joe Biden on his civil rights record at #DemDebate: “Personal attacks, attacks just for the sake of trying to push yourself forward in the campaign I think are underhanded.” https://t.co/MxwenGU3ut pic.twitter.com/2EOWgqDzxl

— The View (@TheView) July 23, 2019

“Well, I can’t remember, I did see her, it was cordial, but I have to admit to you I was a little surprised,” Biden admitted.

Even though Harris benefited from a considerable spike in popularity following her impressive, take no prisoners showing at the debate, it’s now being reported that the momentum has slowed down.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Biden has already bounced back up to 28.4 percentage points from a low of 26.0 percentage points directly after the debate. Prior he was at 32.1, so he’s regained about two-fifths of what he lost.

Conversely, Harris has fallen to 12.2 percentage points from her peak of 15.2 percentage points. But she was only at 7.0 percent before the debate, so while she’s lost about a third of what she’d gained, she’s still better off from where she started.

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