Black SC lawmakers accuse senator of racial attacks for questions about Steyer payments
The Democratic presidential contest in South Carolina spilled over into the State House Wednesday as lawmakers aligned with two candidates sparred, trading accusations of unethical campaign practices and racism.
One side called on former Vice President Joe Biden to disavow one accused lawmaker or pay the consequence of lost votes in the African American community, a critical voting bloc in S.C. Democratic primaries.
The tensions peaked when members of the Legislative Black Caucus gathered to accuse a prominent state senator of racially charged attacks issued in a tweet.
Earlier Wednesday, state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, questioned in a tweet why state Rep. Jerry Govan, the head of the Legislative Black Caucus, was paid more than $43,000 by Tom Steyer’s presidential campaign.
Black Caucus members said Harpootlian was “implying (Govan, D-Orangeburg) had done something illegal or something wrong,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Todd Rutherford.
Rutherford, D-Richland, also told reporters gathered in the State House lobby that Harpootlian has shown a pattern of attacking black officials as he has attempted to take on what he sees as corruption and incompetence no various boards and commissions in the Columbia area.
Harpootlian denied implying Govan’s payment was illegal or immoral, but he did call it “wrong” in his own press conference that immediately followed remarks from Rutherford and the caucus.
Harpootlian also criticized his black colleagues for making his statements about Govan about race.
“I will not be silenced by those who use race as a shield from criticism,” Harpootlian said.
The scuffle began Wednesday when Harpootlian tweeted what he later characterized as a critique of billionaire Steyer Wednesday morning.
“Mr. Money Bags a.k.a @TomSteyer has paid S.C. State Rep. Jerry Govan almost $50,000 for a month worth of work? Is he pocketing the dough or redistributing the wealth? cc: Steyer FEC report,” Harpootlian tweeted.
After the tweet, news outlets published stories about how Govan is paid as a Steyer consultant, something that has been previously reported, with the new information of the payment amounts. The State also reported that Govan received additional money from the campaign renting a building from an limited liability company he is connected to.
After the state House and Senate let members out of a joint session, the Legislative Black Caucus met in a closed-door meeting, and then held a press conference in the State House lobby. As members of the caucus exited their meeting, Harpootlian waved and said ‘hello’ to Govan, who stared back and waved his index finger in the air.
During the news conference, Rutherford called on former Vice President Joe Biden, who Harpootlian backs, to disavow Harpootlian’s statements and Harpootlian himself.
“We ask that Vice President Biden not only disavow those comments but have no relationship whatsoever with Sen. Harpootlian. And we ask that Sen. Harpootlian have nothing to do with his campaign,” Rutherford said.
Biden would heavily be relying on the state’s black community to win the First in the South primary, Rutherford, a fellow Richland lawmaker, noted.
“(Biden’s) refusal to (disavow Harpootlian) will not go over well in the black community, and it certainly will not go over well with the members of the black caucus who are standing behind me,” Rutherford said.
“Representative Govan did not break the law, and the fact that he is black seems to have brought himself to the attention of one of our senators, and we are offended by it,” Rutherford added. “We’re asking that Joe Biden and other campaigns be offended by it as well.”
Harpootlian later clarified that he made his statements independently from the campaign and that he was not employed by the Biden campaign. The Biden campaign confirmed that his words were his own.
“Harpootlian does not speak on behalf of the campaign,” campaign spokeswoman Paige Hill told The State.
According to the campaign website, Harpootlian is on a list of supporters who have helped raise at least $25,000 for the former vice president’s campaign.
“We don’t care,” Rutherford said when reporters asked about the comments being independent.
“We know that Joe Biden needs South Carolina’s vote. He needs the black vote. He certainly cannot get it with this,” Rutherford said.
A pattern of attacks
Rutherford said Harpootlian has a pattern of attacking black officials, saying he made disrespectful comments to a Richland County Delegation staffer, attacked members of the Columbia airport’s commission, and led an ouster of the Richland County Board of Elections.
Rutherford and Harpootlian have butted heads before over the senator’s colorful language and tendency to be brazenly outspoken on issues he stands against. The pair got into a shouting match at a Richland County delegation meeting after Harpootlian complained to staff about their alleged ”pattern of incompetence and failure to do the job,” in which he used an offensive word.
After the Black Caucus finished their statements, Harpootlian gathered with reporters to deliver his rebuttal. The Richland senator said his comments were made to raise questions about Steyer’s campaign tactics in South Carolina ahead of the upcoming primary.
“What I am ... is a state senator who understands that we’ve got a billionaire coming to the state and paying, based on my experience, an extraordinary amount of money to the chairman of the House Black Caucus, who is not a professional and who has not done this on a nationwide basis,” Harpootlian said.
Harpootlian refuted the accusations of racism, saying he endorsed former President Barack Obama in 2008 and won his Senate seat with the support of African Americans in his district. As he spoke, Harpootlian has heckled and booed by Rutherford and other Black Caucus members.
“The fact of the matter is, simply because I expressed concern about the billionaire paying huge amounts of money to elected officials, I’m all of a sudden racist,” Harpootlian said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Harpootlian said his goal has been to remove ineffective officials from office.
“I’ve been — their term — ‘disrespectful’ to white and black people equally,” he said.
Shortly after Harpootlian’s comments to reporters, caucus members held Govan back from making more comments to him or reporters. After a few moments, Govan said he was “totally stunned” at Harpootlian’s statements.
Rutherford said Harpootlian’s comments “reminded me of comments of people in the past that said a lot of their friends were black. That is not the issue.”
“The issue is since (endorsing Obama), every time a black person does anything he does not like, he attacks them and implies that they are corrupt,” Rutherford said. “From the very beginning, he’s been wrong, and he’s wrong now.”
Not all members of the Legislative Black Caucus denounced Harpootlian Wednesday. In an interview with The State, Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, said he understood his fellow senator’s concerns, but said the caucus was also “right to express concerns for Sen. Harpootlian’s comments.”
“I think it’s proven that Dick Harpootlian has a history of foot-in-mouth disease,” Kimpson said. “The fact is, is that he’s entitled to say what he believes to be true. There are a lot of Twitter posts out here from various campaigns. But if we went around trying to roll in every time somebody said something that the campaign didn’t agree with, we’d spend a lot of time.”
Maayan Schechter contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
