I don’t think the American people are doing enough

Representative Jim Clyburn talks about protecting democracy 07:15

If you’ve been paying attention to Democratic presidential politics in recent years, you know that South Carolina matters; an early test in the primary race and a true powerhouse 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 Democrat) in the U.S. House of Representatives. And over 33 years, Clyburn, a civil rights activist, party strategist and policymaker, has built his political network, one handshake and one hug at a time. The annual fish fry is a must-attend event for any Democrat with ambitions for the White House.

When asked about Joe Biden’s claim that getting Clyburn’s endorsement was crucial to his victory in 2020, Clyburn said, “That might be true. He says it’s true! I don’t know!” “I’m too good a politician to deny that,” he added.

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

Clyburn sees a direct line from the history of the oppressive Jim Crow laws he protested to the present-day push to roll back the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Asked today if Democrats are doing enough to protest, Clyburn said, “I don’t think the American people are doing enough. I’m not going to let this be a Democrat versus Republican thing. This is politics and not policy; this is what we as Americans need to do. Are we following through enough? I don’t know that you can really know until the final decision comes out. And that won’t happen until November.”

When asked if the fights and arguments he had over civil rights issues in the 1960s ever ended, Clyburn said, “They ended. They’re just coming back.”

Clyburn also said he expects that if Democrats win the majority in November, President Trump will not respect the results unless it is a landslide. “I totally believe that because he did it.” [before]”The best way to tell what a person is going to do is to look at what he’s done. And if he’s done it, he’s capable of doing it again,” Clyburn said.

Clyburn on Biden’s canceled offer

While Clyburn’s focus today is on the midterms, President Biden’s canceled 2024 candidacy remains on the minds of many Democrats who continue to debate the impact of this move. Clyburn said Biden withdrawing from his reelection bid “I think it was the right decision for him. I think it was the right decision for the party. I think some decisions were made after that and they were not good decisions. I think mistakes were made as the campaign progressed.”

But Clyburn remains frustrated with the way Democrats are handling their national campaigns after Biden dropped out of the race. “I was getting phone calls from all over the country, especially Michigan and Pennsylvania, asking me, ‘Please tell someone they didn’t do what we needed to do to turn out this vote,'” he said. “It’s a fact. A lot of people don’t want to deal with it. But I’ve been getting phone calls. So I know people feel like algorithms are driving the train rather than people with boots on the ground.”

He wants to be re-elected.

Earlier this month, “Sunday Morning” followed Clyburn to his alma mater, South Carolina State University, a historically Black university, and spoke to students with some advice: “When you think about leadership, that is, being someone’s representative, decide early on what you want to do in that representation. Do you want to make headlines? Or do you want to make progress?”

Clyburn has done both in his career; He recently decided to be re-elected for the 18th term. He will be 86 this summer.

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

Clyburn isn’t the only candidate whose age is an issue this year; There are a dozen members of Congress who are over 80 and seeking re-election. When asked what keeps him going, Clyburn said, “My mom and dad instilled in me the obligation to push this business forward.”

Even after all these years, Jim Clyburn still wants to stay in the ring for at least one more tour.

READ AN EXCERPT: “The First Eight” by Jim ClyburnThe South Carolina Democrat, the ninth Black man to represent his state in the House of Representatives, writes about his predecessors who helped steer the course of America during and after Reconstruction.

For more information:

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D.C.)“The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation” Jim Clyburn (Little, Brown & Co.), available in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble And bookshop.orgSouth Carolina State University

The story was produced by Ed Forgotson. Editor: Jason Schmidt.