Clyburn seeking to bolster Biden support among Black voters with swing-state tour
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) will travel to numerous swing states later this year in an effort to bolster support for President Biden among Black voters, according to his office.
The South Carolina Democrat is slated to travel to Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Ohio later this year to tout Biden’s achievements, Cyburn’s office confirmed to The Hill.
PunchBowl News was the first to report on Clyburn’s swing-state tour.
The initiative comes amid recent polls showing Biden losing support among young, Black and Hispanic voters, all groups that are crucial to his voting coalition.
Clyburn, who stepped down from House Democratic leadership earlier this year, brushed off the recent polling in an interview with PunchBowl News.
“I don’t know what this polling is all about,” Clyburn told the outlet. “Joe Biden does not have a problem with Black voters. Whatever you hear to the contrary, that’s just not true.”
One poll from the New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer, released earlier this week, found Biden leading former President Trump among Black voters, 63 percent to 23 percent. This is a significant decrease from the 87 percent of Black voters who voted for Biden in 2020.
That same poll found Trump leading in five out of six swing states, with Wisconsin being the only state where the incumbent is in front. Results showed Trump leading Biden by 3 percentage points in Pennsylvania, 5 points in Michigan, 7 points in Arizona, 10 points in Georgia and 12 points in Nevada. Biden led Trump by 2 points in Wisconsin.
Clyburn spent last week in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia addressing Black churches and local Democratic party events, where he emphasized the risk of the November election, PunchBowl reported.
“I want young people to look at this year’s campaign and be selfish about their vote,” Clyburn reportedly said.
The lawmaker has also discussed the importance of voting in this election at historically Black universities, the outlet added. Clyburn introduced Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at South Carolina University’s commencement last week.
Clyburn has remained a steadfast supporter of Biden, repeatedly downplaying the incumbent’s loss of support among Black voters.
When asked whether the president has maintained a strong standing among Black voters earlier this year, Clyburn pointed to Biden’s win in the South Carolina primary in February.
“I think the answer is emphatic yes,” Clyburn said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And the best illustration of that, he got 96 percent of the vote in this primary, but its largest percentage — over 97 percent — was in the town of Orangeburg where there are two HBCUs and a community college.”
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