Presidential hopefuls Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off again during the second night of the latest Democratic debates on Wednesday.

The two candidates had previously shared the stage on June 27, when Harris took Biden to task for his record on race and controversial comments he’d made about working with segregationists in the Senate. At the beginning of last night’s debate, Biden seemed to reference the tough exchange, greeting Harris with a remark some found objectionable. His mic captured his joking to her, “Go easy on me, kid.”

And online, the off-the-cuff comment isn’t sitting well with some who feel that referring to a politician like Harris as a “kid” is patronizing at worst and tone-deaf at best.

“@JoeBiden told @KamalaHarris ‘go easy on me kid’ when they shook hands at tonight’s #DemDebate. Calling your presidential opponent ‘kid’ is more than just a harmless ‘Bidenism.’ It’s dismissive,” one person tweeted. Another explained, “I honestly can’t get over Joe Biden calling Kamala Harris ‘kid.’ It was intentionally minimizing. It was designed to make her look petty and small, to put her in her place.”

But Biden’s words didn’t seem to rattle Harris. (Nor did it seem she listened to his request.) During the debate, the candidates sparred over their respective health care plans and Harris defended herself against Biden’s claims that her “Medicare for All” blueprint was too expensive and could cause people to lose their workplace-based insurance. Harris hit back, going on to argue that Biden’s health care proposal would leave out large numbers of Americans who also need coverage.

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