The cartoon video, shared on Harris' Twitter Sunday afternoon, featured two men — one white and one black — who were staring up at a mountain they were attempting to climb.
Both men are given the same length rope; the problem, however, is that the white man is standing by the end of his rope while the black man is at the bottom of a cliff and unable to reach his rope.
The California senator narrates the video, in which she begins by saying, "So there's a big difference between equality and equity. Equality suggests, 'Oh, everyone should get the same amount.'"
"The problem with that [is] not everybody's starting out from the same place. So if we're all getting the same amount but you started out back there and I started out over here, we could get the same amount, but you're still going to be that far back behind me," she said, as the white man climbed the mountain while the black man watched from below.
As Harris continues, the ground in the video begins to rise up, allowing the black man to reach the rope and for both men to reach the mountain's summit.
"It's about giving people the resources and support they need so that everyone can be on equal footing, and then compete on equal footing. Equitable treatment means we all end up at the same place," she said as the video ended.
Harris has taken some heat in the hours since sharing the video, specifically from those arguing that while equal opportunity was inherently American, equal outcomes would be an example of communism by ensuring that each person gets the same result.
Most notable of the video's critics was House Republican Conference Committee Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who tweeted in response, "Sounds just like Karl Marx. A century of history has shown where that path leads. We all embrace equal opportunity, but government-enforced equality of outcomes is Marxism."
Trump campaign deputy director of communications Matt Wolking responded, "Full blown Marxist."
Texas Congressman and former Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw quote tweeted, "The false promise of the left, in 1 minute. Start out with a well-intentioned point on equality of opportunity, only to end it with the true Marxist intent: equity in outcomes. They leave out the part where equity must be enforced with unequal -and tyrannical- treatment"
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has worked tirelessly during this general election season to distance himself from concerns about the far-left wing of his party, especially after trouncing former primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the rest of the crowded primary field as a moderate.
Speaking to NBC News at a town hall in Miami, Fla., last week, the former vice president responded to a voter's question about concerns over labels of communism and socialism among Democrats with a query of his own: "Do I look like a socialist?"
"Look, I'm the guy that ran against the socialist," Biden continued before reminding the audience how he was viewed as "too centrist, too moderate, too straightforward" during the Democratic primary.
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