Jim Clyburn says Joe Biden deserves more credit than he gets ahead of visit to SC HBCU
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said President Joe Biden deserves more credit than he receives in South Carolina, days before Biden is due to return to the state for the first time since he won the 2020 presidential primary.
“He’s deserving of a lot more credit from South Carolinians than he will ever get and I suspect that’s because he has a ‘D’ behind his name,” Clyburn told reporters Wednesday, referring to Biden’s party affiliation.
He said Biden deserves credit, in part, for sending millions of dollars in federal cash to the state for infrastructure, broadband and harbor deepening needs.
“Joe Biden has a great relationship with this state,” Clyburn said, “and this state should be showing a little more love for him than it currently is.”
Biden is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at S.C. State University’s graduation ceremony Friday, where Clyburn will receive his diploma in hand on the 60th anniversary of his graduation from the university. Clyburn was originally slated to be the keynote speaker, but asked Biden to deliver the keynote instead.
Clyburn graduated from the state’s only public, four-year historically Black university in the fall semester of 1961, but the school only had commencement ceremonies in the spring. Instead, Clyburn received his diploma by mail.
The House majority whip endorsed Biden ahead of the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary, which was Biden’s first victory in the primary season. The victory is largely credited for propelling Biden, and his struggling campaign, to the party’s nomination.
Clyburn told reporters that before the 2020 election he told Biden not to forget about South Carolina.
“He’s demonstrated with this visit that he’s not going to forget South Carolina,” Clyburn said.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 3:06 PM.
