Biden returns to SC to show his determination to win back Black voters in 2024

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - President Joe Biden went on the attack during a speech at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s First in the Nation Celebration dinner in Columbia.

Biden doesn’t have to worry about his prospects in South Carolina’s Democratic primary next week since he has that locked up. He’s got that locked up. He also knows he’s not likely to win the solidly red state come November. It hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1976.

But he’s spending the weekend in South Carolina nonetheless, intent on driving home two messages: He’s loyal to the state that saved his campaign in 2020 and he’s determined to win back Black voters here and elsewhere who were central to his election last time but are less enthused this go-round.

“You’re the reason I am president,” Biden told attendees at the state party’s fundraising dinner ahead of its first-ever “first-in-the-nation” Democratic primary on Feb. 3. “You’re the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president. And you’re the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former president. You’re the reason Donald Trump is a loser. And you’re the reason we’re going to win and beat him again.”

Biden received raved applause and chants of “four more years” from attendees at the dinner, as he criticized his predecessor’s policies and highlighted his efforts to Black Americans. He was set to spend Sunday in the state where politics and faith are intertwined at a political event at St. John Baptist Church.

Deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said of the primary that Biden’s team was working to “blow this out of the water” by running up the score against longshot challengers. The Biden campaign also wants to learn lessons about activating Black voters — the backbone of the party — ahead of an expected 2024 rematch with GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

It was the first time Biden shared a stage with Rep. Dean Phillips, a longshot challenger for the Democratic nomination, who called on the president, 81, to step aside for a younger generation of leaders to take on Trump.

“The numbers do not say things are looking good,” Phillips said of Biden’s poll numbers. at times struggling to hold the attention of the crowd, many of whom were holding Biden campaign signs ahead of the president’s appearance.

“My invitation to President Biden is to the torch,” Phillips said. Struggling to hold the attention of the crowd, many of whom were holding Biden campaign signs ahead of the president’s appearance, Phillips repeatedly asked the audience to quiet down and listen to him.

He told the Associated Press he did not interact with Biden at the event, saying of Biden’s staff, “No. I don’t think they want him to see me.”

Biden told the crowd he is determined to give all of those who “have been knocked down, counted out, left behind” in the nation a shot again.

“A fair shot at making a living, taking care of children, starting a business being able to buy a home in the real world for generations to come. Now, maybe Donald Trump and his MAGA fans believe that they have to, you have to hold us down to lift everybody else up. I don’t believe that. I believe that America is big enough, strong enough, blessed enough for all of us to succeed,” he said.

He touted several aspects of the economy under his istration, saying that black small businesses during his presidency are starting up at the fastest rate in 30 years. He also said the U.S. economy has grown more in the last six months than it ever did at any point in Trump’s four years in office.

“America is experiencing a manufacturing boom that no one thought was possible. But I knew it was possible,” he said.

He also touted 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, a record low for unemployment and “the lowest levels of Black unemployment ever recorded in American history.”

“The racial wealth gap is in the lowest level in 20 years. Trump’s $2 trillion tax cut when he was president benefitted the super-wealthy but was never paid for and it completely blew up the federal deficit. We brought that deficit down,” he said. “All the progress we’ve made comes down to a simple proposition: Promises made and promises kept.”

The president became unusually heated when he spoke about the nation’s veterans, whom he says he looks at completely differently than his predecessor. He said Trump refused to visit a U.S. cemetery for fallen American soldiers located outside of Paris and called those soldiers “suckers and losers.”

“He actually said that. He said that. How dare he say that? How dare you talk about my son like that?” Biden said. “Look, I call them patriots and heroes. The only loser I see is Donald Trump.”

Ahead of the dinner, Biden stopped into Regal Lounge Men’s Barber & Spa in Columbia, greeting, owners, employees and customers mid-haircut at the barbershop.

The president has been getting mixed reviews from some Black voters in the state that came through for him in 2020, including discontent over his failure to deliver on voting rights legislation and other issues.

Last year, at the outset of Biden’s reelection bid, conflicting views among the same South Carolina Democratic voters whose had been so crucial to his nomination provided an early warning sign of the challenges he faces as he tries to revive his diverse winning coalition from 2020.

Overall, just 50% of Black adults said they approved of Biden in a December poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. That is compared with 86% in July 2021, a shift that is generating concern about the president’s reelection prospects.

APVoteCast, an extensive national survey of the electorate, also found that for Republican candidates ticked up slightly among Black voters during the 2022 midterm elections, although Black voters overwhelmingly ed Democrats.

The Biden campaign is running TV ads in South Carolina highlighting Biden initiatives that it hopes will boost enthusiasm among Black voters.

“On his first day in office with a country in crisis, President Biden got to work — for us,” the ad states. “Cutting Black child poverty in half, more money for Black entrepreneurs, millions of new good-paying jobs and he lowered the cost of prescription drugs.”

The campaign is spending more than $270,000 on the ads through the primary, according to tracking data. The Democratic National Committee also launched a six-figure ad campaign across South Carolina and Nevada, which is next on the Democratic primary calendar, to boost enthusiasm for Biden among Black and Latino voters. And first lady Jill Biden was in the state on Friday evening to rally voters.

Biden’s campaign has also hired staff in South Carolina to organize ahead of the primary and through the general election, although for nearly 50 years the state has picked a Republican for president.

Meanwhile, a pro-Biden super PAC, Unite the Country, is airing an ad featuring Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina ticking through what he says are major Biden accomplishments such as reducing student loan debt and cutting insulin costs for older people.

It was Clyburn’s 2020 endorsement of his longtime friend Biden that helped the then-candidate score a thundering win in South Carolina’s presidential primary,

In the new ad, Clyburn references his late wife, Emily, who influenced his 2020 endorsement of Biden. She said “that if we wanted to win the presidency, we better nominate Joe Biden,” Clyburn says in the ad. “She was right then, and she’s still right today.”

While Trump has seen slightly improving levels of among Black and Latino voters, Biden’s team is more concerned that a lack of enthusiasm for Biden will depress turnout among voters who are pivotal to the Democratic coalition.

Biden’s team is using South Carolina as a proving ground, tracking what messages and platforms break through with voters.

South Carolina, where Black voters make up a majority of the Democratic electorate, is now the first meaningful contest in the Democratic presidential race after the party reworked the party’s nominating calendar at Biden’s call. Leading off with Iowa and New Hampshire had long drawn criticism because the states are less diverse than the rest of the country.

Moving up the South Carolina vote was also a political payback to the state and Clyburn for their role in sending Biden to the White House.

A co-chairman of Biden’s reelection campaign, Clyburn has remained one of the president’s most stalwart advocates in Congress, as well as in his home state. Frequently, he reminds people of the same message he delivered in his 2020 endorsement: “We know Joe, and Joe knows us.”

Biden’s decision to campaign in the state “helps solidify South Carolina’s place as the first in the nation primary moving forward,” said Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler.

It also provides Biden an opportunity to re-engage with Black voters who have connections that extend well beyond South Carolina.

“Obviously the diaspora is strong, familial ties are strong with other key swing states in the area like Georgia and North Carolina,” Tyler said.

Congressional nominees for District 1, Mac Deford and Michael B. Moore, shared thoughts on a First in the Nation vote impact for specific South Carolina communities.

“These are the things Americans need. Our communities need investment in our infrastructure, we need to invest in our education systems,” Deford said.

“It’s about engaging with the people, getting things done, and putting people in front of [the] party,” Moore said.

Deford and Moore are set to run against current Congresswoman Nancy Mace.

The event marks Biden’s second speech in the Palmetto state this year. He spoke at Mother Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston on Jan. 8. The historically-Black church was the site of a shooting that left nine parishioners dead, including the church’s lead pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator. The shooting was carried out by a white man who told investigators he hoped to start a race war.

In his speech, Biden denounced the “poison” of white supremacy in America and said such ideology has no place in America, “not today, tomorrow or ever.”

It was meant as a direct contrast with Trump, whom Biden accused of “glorifying” rather than condemning political violence.

The dinner will take place at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds. South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain and others are also scheduled to speak at the dinner.

Spain and SCDP Executive Director Jay Parmley said Biden’s attendance at the celebration dinner shows he recognizes that South Carolina votes matter.

It was South Carolina that gave Biden his first primary win.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.