Rep. James Clyburn is worried about the prospect of President Joe Biden’s support from Black voters. Politico reported that Clyburn told the president of his fears, which revolved around a communication failure from the White House to the Black community concerning the Biden administration’s accomplishments on behalf of Black people.
Clyburn told CNN host Jake Tapper when asked what worries him about the 2024 cycle and the tapering Black support for Biden, “Well, I’m not worried, I’m very concerned, and I have sat down with President Biden and let him know that I saw those reports. I’ve also seen at least one report indicating that I have sat down with President Biden, and I did, with him, and I’ve told him what my concerns are.”
Clyburn focused on the accomplishments of the Biden administration later in the interview, telling Tapper, “He (Biden) stood right across from Emmanuel Church and said if given the opportunity, he would put an African American woman on the Supreme Court, he has done that. And he went even further, putting a South Carolinian African American woman on the second highest court in the land. He has appointed more African American women to the courts of appeal than all previous presidents combined, and that is a fact.”
Former President Barack Obama has also privately discussed his concerns with Biden’s reelection campaign. A source told Politico
that Obama’s concerns revolved around a lack of clearly delineated authority between the White House and Biden’s campaign headquarters. Other Democrats have made similar points, which prompted deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks to defend the campaign infrastructure in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press.Fulks told NBC, “We’ve put innovative organizing programs in place to begin to communicate with voters on the ground, which is why we’ve made investments into constituency media — the largest investments to voters of color, Hispanic voters, young voters — than any other presidential campaign in history. And now we’re in the phase where more Americans are paying attention to what’s going on, and that is why we’re making the choice.”
Echoing the concerns around Biden’s reelection campaign was a row on social media created during his stop at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Biden was interrupted during his Jan. 8 campaign stop by a group of protestors who called on Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. On X, formerly known as Twitter, users noted that the response from Black members of the church, chanting “four more years” in response to the protestors, seemed at odds with the historical role of the Black church as a safe space for dissent from an immoral American government, and the apartheid it tacitly supported until landmark civil rights legislation was passed in the 1960s. As BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported, many have drawn parallels between Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and America’s treatment of Black citizens during the civil rights movement. Biden’s support of Israel’s bombing of Palestinians has been a contentious issue for many, and the event underscores the division between Black voters who are willing to overlook that foreign policy decision and those who will not.
RELATED CONTENT: Rep. James Clyburn To Release Book On Black Congressional History