“I don’t think the American people are doing enough”

Rep. Jim Clyburn in Defense of Democracy 07:15

If you’ve paid attention to Democratic presidential politics in recent decades, you know the affairs of South Carolina—the primary test in the primary race, and the true center of power in the Democratic Party.

Although African-Americans make up a quarter of South Carolina’s population, Jim Clyburn is the state’s only black representative (and a Democrat) in the U.S. House. And for more than 33 years, Clyburn — a civil rights activist, party strategist, and political kingmaker — has built his political network one handshake and one hug at a time. His annual fish fry is a must-attend event for any Democrat with White House ambitions.

When asked about Joe Biden’s argument that getting Clyburn’s endorsement was crucial to his victory in 2020, Clyburn replied, “It could be true. He says it’s true! I don’t know!” “I’m too good a politician to turn that down,” he added.

In the 1960s, Clyburn was a campus organizer. He said Dr. This is how he met Martin Luther King Jr. He also met his late wife, Emily, when they were both protesting for civil rights.

Clyburn sees a direct line of opposition from the history of repressive Jim Crow laws to the present-day push to repeal the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Asked if Democrats were doing enough to protest today, Clyburn responded, “I don’t think the American people are doing enough. I’m not going to let this be a Democrat versus Republican thing. That’s not policy and politics; that’s what we should be as Americans. And are we going to comply enough? I don’t know, and that’s until you finally win. That will be until November.”

Asked if the fights and debates over the civil rights cases he fought in the 1960s ever ended, Clyburn said, “Well, they’re over. They’re just coming.”

Clyburn also said he expects President Trump to honor the results if Democrats win the majority in November, unless it’s overwhelming. “I totally believe it, because he’s done it [before]” Clyburn said. “The best way to tell what a man will do is to see what he has done. And so, if he’s done it, he’s capable of doing it again.”

Clyburn on Biden’s aborted bid

Although the midterms are Clyburn’s focus today, President Biden’s canceled 2024 candidacy remains on the minds of many Democrats, who continue to debate the implications of that move. Clyburn told Biden that withdrawing from his re-election bid “was the right decision for him. I think it was the right decision for the party. I think there were some decisions after that that weren’t good decisions. I think mistakes were made in how the campaign went.”

But Clyburn has been disappointed with how Democrats have run their national campaign since Biden dropped out of the race. “I was getting calls from people all over the country, especially from Michigan and Pennsylvania, asking me, ‘Please tell somebody that they’re not doing what we need to do to get this vote out,'” he said. “Now, that’s a fact. Now, a lot of people don’t want to deal with that. But I was getting phone calls. So, I know people felt that algorithms were driving the train instead of people with boots on the ground.”

Seeking re-election

Earlier this month, on “Sunday Morning,” Clyburn followed her to her alma mater, South Carolina State University, a historically black university, where she shared some advice with students: “When you think about leadership, being a representative of someone, make a quick decision about what you want to do in that representation. Do you want to make headlines? Or do you want to get ahead?”

Clyburn has done both in his career, most recently for his decision to seek re-election for an 18th term. He will be 86 this summer.

He admits that it took him a long time to come to that decision: “I was talking to one person who said to me, ‘Are you sure you’re doing this out of concern or selfishness?’ And I asked myself, are you selfish, or do you still care about your constituents? And I do.”

Clyburn isn’t the only candidate for whom age is an issue this year; There are a dozen members of Congress who are 80+ and seeking re-election. Asked what keeps him going, Clyburn replied, “My parents instilled in me an obligation to carry it forward.”

Even after all these years, Jim Clyburn still wants to be in the ring for at least one round.

Read an excerpt: “The First Eight” by Jim Clyburn The South Carolina Democrat, the ninth black person to represent his state in the House of Representatives, writes about his predecessors who helped guide America during and after Reconstruction.

For more information:

Representative Jim Clyburn (DS.C)“The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation” by Jim Clyburn (Little, Brown & Co.), available in hardcover, ebook and audio formats, through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org.South Carolina State University

Story created by Ed Forgoson. Editor: Jason Schmidt.