Now that South Carolina kingmaker Jim Clyburn has endorsed Joe Biden, he’s being honest about the state of the former vice president’s White House bid.
“I think we will have to sit down and get serious about how we retool this campaign, how we retool the fundraising, how we do the GOTV, and, at this point, many of us around the country will be able to join with him and help him get it right,” the House majority whip told CNN on Saturday, using an acronym for “get out the vote.”
Despite saying he wouldn’t back a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate during the primary, Clyburn this week put his clout in the first-in-the-South state behind Biden, a move observers had predicted for a while given the pair’s long history, establishment leanings, and the third-ranking House Democrat’s opposition to Bernie Sanders’s socialist politics. Just this week, he said the Vermont senator would cause “down-ballot carnage” for Democrats in the general election, a sentiment he repeated on several occasions.
“I did not feel free to speak about it or to even deal with it inside because I had not committed to his candidacy. I have now, and I’m all in, and I’m not going to sit back idly and watch people mishandle this campaign,” he said Saturday.
Wow. @WhipClyburn to CNN’s @AnaCabrera today on @JoeBiden’s campaign: “I did not feel free to speak about it or to even deal with it inside because I had not committed to his candidacy… I’m all in and I’m not going to sit back idly and watch people mishandle this campaign.” pic.twitter.com/Y6AefxwxPI
— Sarah Mucha (@sarahmucha) February 29, 2020
In announcing his endorsement, Clyburn declared that Biden “knows us” in South Carolina.
“It is time for us to restore this country’s dignity, this country’s respect. That is what is at stake this year. I can think of no one better suited, better prepared,” he said.
Biden is on track to take home his first victory of the cycle in South Carolina on Saturday night. Exit polls from several outlets, including ABC and CNN, suggest Clyburn helped secure last-minute support for Delaware’s 36-year senator after suffering defeats in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.
Clyburn, whose grandson was part of Pete Buttigieg’s team in South Carolina, will travel to North Carolina on Sunday to stump for Biden in Fayetteville.
