The man credited with saving President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign is now worried that he’s not breaking through the “MAGA wall” ahead of the likely 2024 rematch with former president Donald Trump.
South Carolina Democratic Rep Jim Clyburn, the former house majority whip who has spent decades in House Democratic leadership during the tenure of former speaker Nancy Pelosi, brought Mr Biden’s campaign back from the dead after terrible showings in the initial contests of Iowa, where he placed fourth, and New Hampshire, where he came in fifth place.
After a second-place finish in Nevada, Mr Biden, helped by Mr Clyburn’s powerful endorsement in his home state, won South Carolina and later went on to clinch the nomination.
“I have no problem with the Biden administration and what it has done. My problem is that we have not been able to break through that MAGA wall in order to get to people exactly what this president has done,” Mr Clyburn said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
Mr Clyburn, 83, noted that he has spoken to the president about his concerns regarding his re-election campaign, but said that he isn’t “worried” yet remains “concerned”.
The House assistant leader noted that Mr Biden has shown his commitment to sticking to his promises on issues such as student debt, criticising the focus on the section of the president’s debt relief measures that were struck down by the Supreme Court.
“If you took the little simple thing as student loan debt relief, he promised to relieve student loan debt, and he has done that,” Mr Clyburn told CNN.
“But one part of his promise he was not able to keep because six Republican attorneys general and the United States Supreme Court, in a six-three vote, stopped him from doing so. But he sought another way, and he has forgiven $132b to 3.4 million people in student loan debt,” he added. “But nobody writes about that. Nobody talks about that.”
“I’m still hearing from people as recent as yesterday that he did not keep his promise on student loan debt relief. And he has,” Mr Clyburn told the network.
“Eighty per cent of what he said he would do he has done and [he’s] continuing to do it, and people don’t focus on that. They only focus on that 20 per cent affected by that court decision, rather than what he did to get beyond the court decision,” he added.
Mr Clyburn also brought up Mr Biden’s track record on the courts, pointing to the president appointing Black women to the US Court of Appeals and to the US Supreme Court. He also pointed to the fact that the Inflation Reduction Act has capped insulin costs at $35 a month. Clyburn noted that his wife passed away in 2019 with diabetes and the medication cost $800 a month.
