President Joe Biden will make another SC visit this month. Here’s when and where
President Joe Biden is set to return to South Carolina later this month as Democrats prepare for the First in the Nation Democratic presidential primary.
Biden, who is seeking a second term in the White House, is scheduled to be the special guest speaker at the First in the Nation Celebration Dinner Jan. 27 at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia.
The visit will be one week before the primary.
South Carolina is leading off the Democratic presidential primary process this cycle as a nod to Black voters who are a key constituency for the Democratic Party. The primary also gives Southern and rural voters a leading voice of who the party nominates for president.
“The President recognizes that South Carolina voters matter. Black voters matter. And Southern voters matter,” South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain and South Carolina Executive Director Jay Parmley said in a joint statement. “We are grateful to him for honoring his commitment to our state and to our party by coming back to the place that started his road to the White House.”
South Carolina was key to Biden’s election fortunes in 2020.
Biden lost the nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, before winning South Carolina. The primary victory propelled him to the nomination and eventually the White House.
Biden’s administration has given a lot of attention to South Carolina this month.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the Seventh Episcopal District African Methodist Episcopal Church Women’s Missionary Society annual retreat on Jan. 6 in Myrtle Beach. Biden spoke at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on Monday.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff visited the Lowcountry on Thursday.
Harris is scheduled Monday to speak at the annual King Day at the Dome event at the State House.
The visits are coming along with an investment in outreach to voters by the Biden-Harris campaign.
“Ahead of the first in the nation South Carolina primary, Team Biden-Harris will run ads on African American radio, streaming audio, TV, and print outlets in the state,” Campaign Spokesman Kevin Munoz said in a statement.
The Jan. 27 dinner also will feature U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Santee, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison.
Presidential candidates Marianne Williamson and Congressman Dean Phillips, who will appear on the presidential primary ballot with Biden, have been invited to the dinner, the state Democratic Party said.
The state party has held dinner with candidates, national figures, local elected officials and community members ahead of presidential primaries in previous cycles.
This story was originally published January 12, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
