ROCK HILL, South Carolina — In the wake of his campaign launching a student outreach program, there were roughly a dozen young people who showed up during Joe Biden’s Thursday visit to a historically black college in South Carolina.
An audience of roughly 500 mostly white people came out to hear the former vice president at Clinton College during his third town hall event in the Palmetto State.
“There’s certainly an older demographic than when [Bernie] Sanders was here, and school wasn’t even in session,” Clinton College’s Director of Communications Erin Giddens, 30, told the Washington Examiner, referring to the Vermont senator’s visit in June. Giddens later added that part of the reason for the low student attendance might be because class was in session.
Just days before his trip Tuesday, Biden’s campaign launched “Students for Biden” as numerous polls show his support slipping among younger voters.
A Monmouth University poll, which the Biden campaign labeled an “outlier” to the Washington Examiner, found that Biden only receives 6% from party voters aged 18-49. Earlier in the month, a Chegg-College Pulse poll showed Sanders leading the pack among college students with 29% support, whereas Biden only garnered 10%.
During his remarks, Biden, 76, mostly kept to his typical stump speech, which some black Americans said could be the reason he wasn’t inspiring more young people to come out to his events.
“He’s seeking to deport sick kids seeking life-saving medical treatments in the United States,” Biden said of President Trump. “Like every bully, he’s trying to make himself seem stronger by picking on the most vulnerable among us. And folks, I’ve never said this, but it’s sinful what’s happened. It’s not who we are. This is not who we are.”
Rosemary Wallace, 58, an African American medical marijuana activist, told the Washington Examiner, “I was really surprised that he didn’t have more college kids to come out, which is kind of sad. He’s got the older vote, people over the age of 40. We got people being locked up here every day for drugs, and he needs to be talking more about that.”
Despite stereotypes that Sanders struggles with African Americans (although most Democratic strategists agree he must improve his numbers among minority voters if he wishes to capture the nomination), he typically polls second to Biden in terms of receiving their support. Black people typically make up roughly 60% of South Carolina’s Democratic electorate.
A poll released last month found Sanders receiving 15% of the black vote in South Carolina, more than California Sen. Kamala Harris, at 12%, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, at just 2%. Biden received 41%.
Older black Americans solidly in Biden’s camp didn’t seemed concerned, however.
“I’ve always liked Biden. He’s morally and ethically competent. His values line up with mine, Judeo-Christian,” said Willy Ellison, who declined to give his age but said he was retired. “The group you’re seeing now,” Ellison said, referring to the age of the crowd, “is who his base of supporters are. The students will fall in line.”
