Rep. Jim Clyburn said Sunday during an interview on CNN that he was “very concerned” about Black voters turning out for President Biden in 2024 and said he shared his concerns with the president.
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Clyburn about the Washington Post’s reporting on former President Obama and his recent lunch with the president. Obama reportedly expressed concern over his campaign.
“This comes as President Biden is struggling to solidify support among Black voters, including on that trip to South Carolina. Obviously, you were instrumental in Biden getting the Democratic nomination. Obviously, Black voters were instrumental in then-vice president Biden, getting the nomination in 2020. How worried are you about Black voters showing up for President Biden in November?” Tapper asked.
“Well, I’m not worried. I’m very concerned, and I have sat down with President Biden, I don’t know — I saw those reports. Also, I’ve seen one report indicating that I have sat down with President Biden and I did, with him. And I told him what my concerns are. I have no problem with the Biden Administration and what it has done. My problem is we have not been able to break through that MAGA wall in order to get to people exactly what this president has done,” he responded.
Clyburn cited student loan forgiveness, and noted that the Supreme Court struck down part of his plan.
“But he sought another way. And he has forgiven $132 billion to 3.4 million people in student loan debt. But nobody writes about that. Nobody talks about that. I’m still hearing from people that as recent as yesterday that we did not — he did not keep his promise on student loan debt relief and he has. Eighty percent of what he said he would do, he has done and is continuing to do it and people don’t focus on that. The only focus on that 20% affected by the court decision rather than what he did to get beyond the court decision,” Clyburn said.
The Democratic lawmaker also praised Biden’s appointment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first African-American woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
“So this president is keeping his promises, but people keep focusing on the one or two things that he did not get accomplished. No, we didn’t do what we wanted to do with voter — with the John Lewis voter education advancement act. But we’re going to keep working until we get it done,” he said.
DEMOCRATS ‘FAILING EPICALLY’ TO REACH BLACK MALE VOTERS HEADING INTO 2024, ACTIVIST WARNS
Tapper suggested the Biden administration fly Clyburn around the country to speak to voters.
According to a CNN poll released in November, Biden and Harris face significantly weaker support from Black voters despite winning the group by a large margin in 2020. It found that just 73% of Black voters favor Biden in the 2024 election, compared to the 92% he received in the last election.
The poll also found that 23% of Black voters favor Trump, a huge jump from the 8% support he received in 2020.
Black voters in Georgia told The New York Times’s Mara Gay in December that they were disappointed in the Democratic Party and the president.
“Bad as things were, people say they felt money was circulating with Trump in office, those stimulus checks,” Barber Shaun Williams told the Times. “Now there is no money circulating. Prices are up. The cost of food is up.”
Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie and Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
